Finding Yourself in Thin Times

It's around this particularly dark time of the year that my thoughts turn to "thin places" and "thin moments"; these are locations and times where and when, according to ancient Celtic lore, the veil that separates our world from the other realm is very thing and one can sense the Presence of the Divine.

For me, New Year's Eve by my fire is a thin place and time. The age-old mystique of fire draws us in, and the almost-tangible spirits of the Old and the New seem to hover just out of reach. Often I am sure that I see figures in my peripheral vision, dancing just on the fringes of my sight and then leaping out of the way when I sharply turn my head. It is at this time that I most keenly feel the Presence of God in God's old and new forms. Old, because of course God didn't just spring into being when humans first decided that Jesus of Nazareth was sent from God and, indeed, WAS God. God has taken hundreds of forms throughout the aeons and generations, differing from place to place and peoples to peoples.

And after all, didn't God himself say that Jesus came into the world "not to condemn the world, but to save it"? And "those who are not against us are for us"? Many Christians like to ignore these phrases when it might challenge their own worldview - a view that makes them the center of the world and of God's Creation.

God's radical love cannot be put in a box, cannot be contained in a temple, in a grove, or in the 21st century theology.  It cannot be defined.  It must be experienced.  And wherever and whenever it is truly felt and experienced is a thin place and a thin time.

It is when we truly encounter the Divine Other that we complete and whole.  That is when we discover that which gives our lives meaning. That is when we meet our authentic selves.

May the Fire of God enter into your heart and lives today.

If you're interested in reading more about the lore of "thin places" check out Mindie Burgoyne's awesome blog, Thin Places - Where This World Meets the Eternal World.