In Celtic spirituality there is a Thin Place which separates the conscious world from that of the Spirit. Thin Places are the places and moments which transcend our daily preoccupations and transport us into a deeper awareness of what is and what can be.
Thin Places are the moments that elicit awe, wonder, dare I say, reverence. A deep seated belief that there is more going on than meets the eye. A truth that cannot be proven, measured or quantified.
In my Christian tradition the Easter Season is full of appearance stories. Oftentimes the Risen Christ appears to the disciples but they don't recognize him. Their mind and imagination can't grasp that the Christ has overcome death, violence and despair.
As the stories unfold there comes an a-ha moment. When their self imposed limitations as to what is possible, slip away. Often times it is in the simplest gesture that everything turns: In John 20: 16 Mary Magdalene hears her name spoken; 21: 12 the disciples see Jesus preparing them a breakfast of fish and bread on the beach and they know.
What is it that allows one to suddenly see, feel, hear in a new way?
Have you ever had such a moment when your sense of what is possible, expands?
When I was a boy of 10, playing in a wetlands near my home, I had my first memory of a Thin Place. I was with my cousin. We were lying by a brook, listening to the water. Our faces were turned up to the sun, as beams of light flooded through the canopy above us. At that moment I felt transported. That I was connected to everything, the water, the sun, the call of the birds, the frogs in the stream. Everything was interconnected. There was no separation.
A Thin Place.
On a Pray and Paddle event, we quiet our mind and seek to be fully present to where we are. With each paddle stroke we glide across the water and at times, for but a moment, we may be graced with the sensation of being fully immersed in the water. Fully in sync with the beat of ones heart, the dip of the paddle, the sun upon your face. At such a moment we move from observer to participant. We enter into a place of deep interconnectedness with creation and the Creator.
A Thin Place.
This Spring, Summer and Fall I invite you to join with me and others on the beauty of Lake Cochichewick or on our September paddle on Salem Sound. Solo or together, may we live into the Thin Place.
With you on the journey. ~ Kent Harrop
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