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“Thin Places,” Where the Boundaries between the Spiritual and Physical Worlds are Almost Transparent

By Anita Mathias

sunset_calf_sound_7Celtic Christians prized “thin places,” where the boundaries between the spiritual and physical world are almost transparent. Where we can sense shimmering in the physical world the just-as-real, invisible, supernatural world, charged with the glory of God, with hills ringed with angels in chariots of fire.

Could God really be more present in one place than in another? I wondered until I slowed down, calmed down, and began to experience the presence of God pushing though, and thin places.

* * *

Thin places—near mountains, rivers, streams, meadows, the sea—are, in fact, often places where people have worshipped and sought God for centuries. The air around beaches, waterfalls and mountains is rich in brain-activity boosting, depression-banishing negative ions.  Benedictines and Trappists often built their monasteries in such places.

Is it fanciful to suppose that places in which thousands have prayed would attract the spirit of God—and angelic presences?

Perhaps what happens in a pilgrimage spot is not that God descends to earth in a shower of radiance and the earth ever after exudes his fragrance. Perhaps it is we who sanctify spots of earth when we bring our weary spirits, our thwarted hopes, the whole human freight of grief, and pray—our eyes grown wide and trusting; our being, a concentrated yearning. Perhaps that yearning, that glimpse of better things, attracts the spirit of God, and traces of that encounter linger in the earth and air and water so that future pilgrims say, “God is here.”

* * *

I felt that when we visited Ffald-y-Brenin. There was a peace and holiness in the air. I could sense the presence of God in the stillness and especially around the high cross, placed on the highest hill of the retreat centre towering over the countryside.

I gave up analysing it after a while. I surrendered to the peace. As Eliot says in “Little Gidding,”

You are not here to verify,
Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity
Or carry report. You are here to kneel
Where prayer has been valid.

That peace, a sudden clarity of thinking and creativity? I guess I could call it the spirit of God.

Healing hung in the air. Looking back at my post written there, I see I was praying for healing from self-induced adrenal fatigue. Well, seven months later, it was completely gone, and I was gulping down books again, and writing a lot.

***

Just being by the ocean, watching it, listening to the roar of the waves quietens me, reminds me of immensity, of God’s infinite power, and opens me up to his spirit. I suddenly find myself praying in tongues. I pick up God’s guidance and directives most clearly on beach walks.

And, as all cultures at all times have noticed, mountains are specially charged with the presence of God. They are places for peace, serenity, and elevated thoughts. In the mountains, my thoughts instinctively gravitate to God.

* * *

And, of course, in our own homes and lives, places become thin because we often pray there.

I pray face down in my bedroom, soaking prayer, and the accustomed place and posture probably more quickly tunes my spirit to peace.

I also enjoy walking and praying in the fields around my house for I live in the country. Again the accustomed routine of walking and praying makes me feel happy and exhilarated and, within a short time, I find myself praying in tongues.

Thomas Merton writes about cultivating routines of prayer at the same place, and at about the same time, “My chief joy is to escape to the attic of the garden house and the little broken window that looks out over the valley.  There in the silence, I love the green grass.  The tortured gestures of the apple trees have become part of my prayer….  So much do I love this solitude that when I walk out along the road to the old barns that stand alone, delight begins to overpower me from head to foot, and peace smiles even in the marrow of my bones.”

* * *

Just we can feel stressed and uneasy by subliminal triggering memories of past trauma in certain places, or in the presence of certain people, our spirits can also swiftly be tuned to peace in places in which we have often experienced God’s spirit, on a particular seat in church, or on a particular country walk.

Working in my own garden is a thin place for me. Sooner or later, joy returns. Sooner or later, I find myself praying, often in tongues.

Another thin place for me is tidying up. I restore my soul as I restore my house. My body works, and feels happy working, but my mind is fallow. Clarity comes as I work, ideas. Peace returns, and I find myself praying…

* * *

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Filed Under: spirituality Tagged With: adrenal fatigue, Benedictines, Celtic spirituality, Ffald-y-Brenin, healing, Little Gidding, Mountains, pilgrimage places, T.S. Eliot, the sea, Thomas Merton

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Comments

  1. Bev says

    April 28, 2015 at 9:17 pm

    a lovely post, I’ve never heard the term ‘thin places’ before – but I’ve definitely experienced them.
    The first one that comes to mind for me is The Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, in Norfolk, known as England’s Nazareth. It’s a beautiful place, so many pilgrims say that they feel they’ve ‘come home’ when they visit. From the minute you arrive the rest of the world seems a million miles away and your heart gets a glimpse of Heaven – it’s a thin place and a blessed place.
    I love your description of how maybe we sanctify these places with our yearning and the lingering of encounters, you’ve put in to words beautifully that powerful sense of community prayer and shared beliefs, heartaches and joys that these places hold.
    Thank you.

    • Anita Mathias says

      April 28, 2015 at 9:24 pm

      Thank you, Bev. I would love to visit Walsingham sometime!

  2. Good book topics says

    April 22, 2015 at 7:01 am

    Thanks for sharing such a nice information. These types of places inspires people very much.

  3. Brian Frick says

    April 21, 2015 at 7:28 pm

    Wow. Talk of thin spaces is always inspiring.
    I found my thin place at camp. I was blessed to work at 3 different camps over 10 years. By a beautiful lake in NJ, deep in the redwood trees in CA and most recently in a beautiful forest/meadow in MO. I now am blessed to work with all 130 Presbyterian Church camps across the country!
    I visit thin places all the time. Ghost Ranch in the desert of New Mexico, Zephyr Point on the shore of Lake Tahoe, Albemarle on the sound in North Carolina. The list goes on. We are truly blessed to have these spaces to share, not just with kids but with adults too.
    If you want to experience them, we do some wonderful spirituality retreats at Ghost Ranch. Worth looking into if you value “thin.”
    I post on twitter at @pcusacamps and facebook at Presbyterian Camp and Conference Ministries. Would love to share more!

    • Anita Mathias says

      April 22, 2015 at 9:21 am

      Ghost Ranch sounds amazing. Sadly, I love in England, or I would love to visit Ghost Ranch and Zephyr Point!

      • Brian Frick says

        April 22, 2015 at 2:09 pm

        John Philip Newell, a Christian Spiritual leader, goes to Ghost Ranch several times a year from Scotland to lead experiences! You should catch a ride with him sometime. I know you would love it.

  4. Lauren Gaskill | Making Life Sweet says

    April 21, 2015 at 6:48 pm

    Beautiful post, Anita! The ocean is also a “thin” place for me. It is where I feel closest to God. I don’t know if it’s because I was a swimmer growing up, but there is something about the sound and sight of water that draws me into the Lord!

    • Anita Mathias says

      April 21, 2015 at 6:51 pm

      Yes! I’ve read that just the sight of the sea reduces stress. It certainly is so for me!

  5. Kathryn Ross says

    April 3, 2015 at 1:31 pm

    Blessings, Anita, this Holy Week — and Good Friday, in particular. Loved this post and totally identified with every word! I have always felt a deep kinship to the English countryside and the solitude of the glories of God’s creation there–the history there. The story of Christ in that landscape fascinates me and the Christian writings of my brothers and sisters of ancient days ignite my spirit. I’ve never been there in person–but I know that thin place. The same for the other thin places you speak of, as in my own home sanctuary. SANCTUARY!

    Thanks for your words this day as I’m meditating on my Lord’s sacrificial gift on my behalf. With such disturbing headlines raging at present, I hunker down in the Shadow of His Wings. His such a thin place alone–will I knowo His peace.

    Today, I believe . . .

    Joy!
    Kathy

    • Anita Mathias says

      April 8, 2015 at 8:40 pm

      Home is a sanctuary indeed! 🙂

  6. John says

    April 3, 2015 at 8:47 am

    At almost three and a half thousand metres, the air is wafer-thin. Snow feels structurally different. The sky is impossibly blue and there is a translucence between the real and the ‘other’ world, much like your ‘thin’ places, where the light of Heaven has no choice but to break through in waves of grace and laughter. One of the very few times in my life when the compulsion to worship was almost unbearable was in a setting such as this.

    • Anita Mathias says

      April 3, 2015 at 9:44 am

      Wow, I hope I get a chance to see such a place before I die!

  7. Mollie Lyon says

    April 3, 2015 at 4:58 am

    I have been intrigue by the thought of thin spots since I first heard of them. I think our prayers do make a place holy. I feel it when I travel a little north of my home to Pymatuning- a large reservoir built in the 1930’s. My father, a praying man, loved it and knew the area like the back of his hand. I grew up going there often for fun and reflection. I have in recent years incorporated their area into a prayer retreat. Peace is there for me.
    A beautiful piece to inspire us. Thank you, Anita.

    • Anita Mathias says

      April 3, 2015 at 9:45 am

      It sounds lovely, Mollie!

  8. Janet says

    April 2, 2015 at 8:49 pm

    Lovely, and I couldn’t agree more.

    • Anita Mathias says

      April 3, 2015 at 9:45 am

      Thanks Janet!

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anita.mathias

Writer, Blogger, Reader, Mum. Christian. Instaing Oxford, travel, gardens and healthy meals. Oxford English alum. Writing memoir. Lives in Oxford, UK

Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford # Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford #walking #tranquility #naturephotography #nature
So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And h So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And here we are at one of the world’s most famous and easily recognisable sites.
#stonehenge #travel #england #prehistoric England #family #druids
And I’ve blogged https://anitamathias.com/2020/09/13/on-not-wasting-a-desert-experience/
So, after Paul the Apostle's lightning bolt encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he went into the desert, he tells us...
And there, he received revelation, visions, and had divine encounters. The same Judean desert, where Jesus fasted for forty days before starting his active ministry. Where Moses encountered God. Where David turned from a shepherd to a leader and a King, and more, a man after God’s own heart.  Where Elijah in the throes of a nervous breakdown hears God in a gentle whisper. 
England, where I live, like most of the world is going through a desert experience of continuing partial lockdowns. Covid-19 spreads through human contact and social life, and so we must refrain from those great pleasures. We are invited to the desert, a harsh place where pruning can occur, and spiritual fruitfulness.
A plague like this has not been known for a hundred years... John Piper, after his cancer diagnosis, exhorted people, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer”—since this was the experience God permitted you to have, and He can bring gold from it. Pandemics and plagues are permitted (though not willed or desired) by a Sovereign God, and he can bring life-change out of them. 
Let us not waste this unwanted, unchosen pandemic, this opportunity for silence, solitude and reflection. Let’s not squander on endless Zoom calls—or on the internet, which, if not used wisely, will only raise anxiety levels. Let’s instead accept the invitation to increased silence and reflection
Let's use the extra free time that many of us have long coveted and which has now been given us by Covid-19 restrictions to seek the face of God. To seek revelation. To pray. 
And to work on those projects of our hearts which have been smothered by noise, busyness, and the tumult of people and parties. To nurture the fragile dreams still alive in our hearts. The long-deferred duty or vocation
So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I have totally sunk into the rhythm of it, and have got quiet, very quiet, the quietest spell of time I have had as an adult.
I like it. I will find going back to the sometimes frenetic merry-go-round of my old life rather hard. Well, I doubt I will go back to it. I will prune some activities, and generally live more intentionally and mindfully.
I have started blocking internet of my phone and laptop for longer periods of time, and that has brought a lot of internal quiet and peace.
Some of the things I have enjoyed during lockdown have been my daily long walks, and gardening. Well, and reading and working on a longer piece of work.
Here are some images from my walks.
And if you missed it, a blog about maintaining peace in the middle of the storm of a global pandemic
https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/  #walking #contemplating #beauty #oxford #pandemic
A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine. A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine.  We can maintain a mind of life and peace during this period of lockdown by being mindful of our minds, and regulating them through meditation; being mindful of our bodies and keeping them happy by exercise and yoga; and being mindful of our emotions in this uncertain time, and trusting God who remains in charge. A new blog on maintaining a mind of life and peace during lockdown https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/
In the days when one could still travel, i.e. Janu In the days when one could still travel, i.e. January 2020, which seems like another life, all four of us spent 10 days in Malta. I unplugged, and logged off social media, so here are some belated iphone photos of a day in Valetta.
Today, of course, there’s a lockdown, and the country’s leader is in intensive care.
When the world is too much with us, and the news stresses us, moving one’s body, as in yoga or walking, calms the mind. I am doing some Yoga with Adriene, and again seeing the similarities between the practice of Yoga and the practice of following Christ.
https://anitamathias.com/2020/04/06/on-yoga-and-following-jesus/
#valleta #valletamalta #travel #travelgram #uncagedbird
Images from some recent walks in Oxford. I am copi Images from some recent walks in Oxford.
I am coping with lockdown by really, really enjoying my daily 4 mile walk. By savouring the peace of wild things. By trusting that God will bring good out of this. With a bit of yoga, and weights. And by working a fair amount in my garden. And reading.
How are you doing?
#oxford #oxfordinlockdown #lockdown #walk #lockdownwalks #peace #beauty #happiness #joy #thepeaceofwildthings
Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social d Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social distancing. The first two are my own garden.  And I’ve https://anitamathias.com/2020/03/28/silver-and-gold-linings-in-the-storm-clouds-of-coronavirus/ #corona #socialdistancing #silverlinings #silence #solitude #peace
Trust: A Message of Christmas He came to earth in Trust: A Message of Christmas  He came to earth in a  splash of energy
And gentleness and humility.
That homeless baby in the barn
Would be the lynchpin on which history would ever after turn
Who would have thought it?
But perhaps those attuned to God’s way of surprises would not be surprised.
He was already at the centre of all things, connecting all things. * * *
Augustus Caesar issued a decree which brought him to Bethlehem,
The oppressions of colonialism and conquest brought the Messiah exactly where he was meant to be, the place prophesied eight hundred years before his birth by the Prophet Micah.
And he was already redeeming all things. The shame of unwed motherhood; the powerlessness of poverty.
He was born among animals in a barn, animals enjoying the sweetness of life, animals he created, animals precious to him.
For he created all things, and in him all things hold together
Including stars in the sky, of which a new one heralded his birth
Drawing astronomers to him.
And drawing him to the attention of an angry King
As angelic song drew shepherds to him.
An Emperor, a King, scholars, shepherds, angels, animals, stars, an unwed mother
All things in heaven and earth connected
By a homeless baby
The still point on which the world still turns. The powerful centre. The only true power.
The One who makes connections. * * *
And there is no end to the wisdom, the crystal glints of the Message that birth brings.
To me, today, it says, “Fear not, trust me, I will make a way.” The baby lay gentle in the barn
And God arranges for new stars, angelic song, wise visitors with needed finances for his sustenance in the swiftly-coming exile, shepherds to underline the anointing and reassure his parents. “Trust me in your dilemmas,” the baby still says, “I will make a way. I will show it to you.” Happy Christmas everyone.  https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/24/trust-a-message-of-christmas/ #christmas #gemalderieberlin #trust #godwillmakeaway
Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Gratitude journal, habit tracker, food and exercise journal, bullet journal, with time sheets, goal sheets and a Planner. Everything you’d like to track.  Here’s a post about it with ISBNs https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/23/life-changing-journalling/. Check it out. I hope you and your kids like it!
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