I was at a gathering this weekend and came away… changed.

I heard a phrase that was new to me. Googling it, I discovered that I am indeed a Johnny-come-lately; the phrase is ancient. The phrase was “thin places.”

In the Celtic tradition such places that give us an opening into the magnificence and wonder of that Presence are called “Thin Places.” There is a Celtic saying that heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in the thin places that distance is even smaller. A thin place is where the veil that separates heaven and earth is lifted and one is able to receive a glimpse of the glory of God.

It is as though a door between the worlds is cracked open for a moment or a veil or curtain is briefly parted.

In a thin place there is an immediacy of experience where words of faith become words of life. In this hallowed space and time heaven and earth for a moment are one.

We return from thin places refreshed and renewed.

I was literally in a thin place this weekend.

I’m still in a state of amazement…