Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Thin Places

I know a few years ago, during a small group setting, I talked about thin places. I had experienced a thin place at Ft. Worden beach in Port Townsend, Wa. back in 2005. It was real and life changing. I count it as a spiritual marker; a touchstone, in my walk with the Lord.

Here is what Marcus Borg in The Heart of Christianity says about thin places:

"Thin places (a metaphor found in Celtic Christianity) has its home in a particular way of thinking about God. Deeply rooted in the Bible and Christian tradition, this way of thinking sees God, 'the More', as the encompassing Spirit in which everything is. God is not somewhere else, but right here. In words attributed to Paul in the book of Acts, God is the 'One in whom we live, and move and have our being.' Note how the words work: we are in God, we live in God, we move and have our being in God. God is a non-material layer of reality all around us, right here as well as more than right here. This way of thinking thus affirms that there are minimally two layers of dimensions of reality, the visible world of our ordinary experience and God, the Sacred, Spirit.
But occasionally we do experience God shining through everything. Thin places are where these two levels of reality meet or intersect. They are places where the boundary between the two levels becomes very soft, porous, permeable. Thin places are where the veil momentarily lifts and we behold God, experience the One in whom we live, all around us and within us.
A thin place is anywhere our hearts are opened. To use sacramental language, a thin place is a sacrament of the sacred, a mediator of the sacred, a means whereby the sacred becomes present to us. A thin place is a means of grace.
What I wish to emphasize is how this notion helps us understand traditional Christian practices, both corporate and individual. My claim is that their central purpose is to become a thin place where our hearts are opened."


I have experienced that place where Heaven and Earth meet. I have experienced it in both a corporate setting and an individual setting. It truly is a means of grace. To see God shining through; to catch another glimmer of this multi-faceted God, is truly God gracing us. It amazes me how little I have to do with it. It isn't anything I can manipulate or control. If I just keep my heart right, He will surprise me with His holy presence.

Have you ever experienced a thin place?

Monday, October 20, 2008

poem: "Fire" by: Judy Brown

What makes a fire burn
is space between the logs,
a breathing space.
Too much of a good thing,
too many logs
packed in too tight
can douse the flames
almost as surley
as a pail of water.

So building fires
requires attention
to the spaces in between,
as much as to the wood.

When we are able to build
open spaces
in the same way
we have learned
to pile on logs,
then we come to see how
it is fuel, and the absence of fuel
together, that make fire possible.

We only need to lay a log
lightly from time to time.
A fire
grows
simply because the space is there,
with openings
in which the flame
that knows just how it wants to burn
can find its way.


This was a poem we read at our spiritual formation retreat.
How does this poem relate to your spiritual walk? What words or phrases speak to you?

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Thankfulness in Crisis

Jesus.

I'm glad I know Him.

I read this article today about people who are killing themselves over this financial crisis. Some are jobless, have taken a big hit in the stock market, and are facing foreclosure of their home. And they killed themselves because of this. Have any of you read some of these stories?

I find the stories disturbing. It is sad. People who trust in this broken world's system. It's all they have (or had). I cannot imagine living without knowing where my trust lies. I trust in Jesus. I trust His words. I am thankful (the Bible tells me to be thankful in all things, for this is the will of God for me). I am thankful for my husband; he's my soul mate and best friend. I am thankful for my two children; they are healthy and bring such profound joy to my life. I am thankful for family; that there is such variety in personalities in one family is sometimes just plain astounding. I am thankful for friends; I get to choose my friends and I have quite a variety of them. I love having relationships. I think that is the key to a happy, successful life. Be careful how to define successful. In the end, most of the things in this world will burn as hay and stubble. There isn't anything that one can take with them when they die. Well, actually, one can take some things. They aren't tangible though. Relationships are the gold that Jesus talked about; the stuff that doesn't burn away or the moths eat. Relationships are based on love. And, well...love never fails.

My marriage survived joblessness, no savings, months behind on mortgage, deep credit debt and emotional turmoil. My trust in Jesus has never wavered. If we lose it "all", what I have I really lost? Do I still have family and friends? Do I trust God's word that He loves me so much, that He will provide? It may not always look like the provision I am accustomed to or even think I am entitled to (entitled.... there's another fault in thinking), but He does provide. I can testify to that.

I am in no way meaning to diminish the heartache of what we term "crisis". I do know, that I am stronger than I was two years ago because of the "crap". I am also wiser and my trust in the Lord is deeper. I am thankful I had a chance to toughen up and press harder into Jesus. My relationships are stronger, too. And because life tends to be cyclical, we are now gainfully employed, re-building savings, renting, and are about to be debt free. We have experienced some emotional healing (our marriage is stronger and healthier than ever before) and we haven't lost a single friend through any of it. In fact, our friendships became richer and deeper.

I love knowing Jesus and knowing that He still works miracles.