Wednesday, February 29, 2012

thin places

Yesterday I learned that in Ireland there are historical geographic sites they call thin places.  You can actually take a tour of them -sacred natural landscapes where the distance between this world and heaven are thin.  Where God seems closer. 

Fascinated by the concept but worrying about having gas money to finish this month, let alone money to buy a plane ticket to Ireland, I wondered if there are any thin places a little closer to home.  An actual place where I could make a pilgrimage to seek the presence of God.

Please, please forgive me.  I truly mean no sacrilege or an ounce of disrespect toward the Irish, but the only thin place I can think of in my landscape is the bathroom.

I believe only moms can truly understand what I mean by this.  The bathroom is often the only place to find solitude.

“One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek:  that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.”  (Psalm 27:4)  But until then, the thinnest place I’ve found is a little room with a door where the tasks of the day are set aside for a moment.  Where the hot water runs over my face as I pray and where the Sonicare vibrates while I have a little time to think and to talk to God.

I have done a lot of praying while I get ready in the morning.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  It’s where God confirmed in my heart he wanted me to go teach the Bible for a few weeks in Uganda.  A little Crest and some multivitamins is where he convinced me I should give up the curriculum I loved and ask the children’s director about pursuing Awana (which would take us from 30 gradeschoolers at Wednesday church to about 150).  I was towel drying my hair when God pinned me to the wall about forgiving a friend.

I think the mystery isn’t so much in finding a historically sacred location as it is in seeking thin.  Wanting to be so close to God that I reach out for him in the moment. 

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  (Jeremiah 29:13)

Do you have a thin place?

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