Thin places
Celtic Christianity takes great stock in “thin places”–the places where the veil is so thin, it’s almost like God is visible. Those places are in nature, in life, and in the faces of those we meet. They are always there, but it’s up to us to recognize them.
For many people one of the “thinnest place” is the ruins at Clonmacnoise, Ireland. I was humbled to have had the opportunity to celebrate a midweek Eucharist there with our pilgrimage group. About midway through the celebration, it suddenly dawned on me that what I was doing, had been done roughly 1500 years before me.
Sure, the words were different, but still…it was all the same. St. Cieran, buried in the floor, had done what I was doing, as well as many more saints more saintly than me. All those stones you see were of people who were gathered just as we were gathered. Bread was eaten, followed by a swig of wine. The Holy Spirit came down just as she was that day.
It is so easy to get wrapped up in the temporal state of the church today. We hear, “The church is dying.” “The church will die if we don’t XYZ, or if we don’t focus on ABC.” We wring our hands and clutch our pearls or whatever.
As I looked out at the view at Clonmacnoise it dawned on me – Those people died. Those buildings died. But the church–oh, the church, she is very much alive, and she lives as long as people are gathered together and the Eucharist is celebrated.
Where are the “thin places” in your life, where you can almost touch a vision of God?
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