My favourite song by Tommy is on the new Green Room CD. Yay! (The singer/songwriter and namesake of the band is a friend and former flatmate) Apparently there’s a video too, filmed at the Pinnacles… so if you happen to have Juice TV (we don’t) keep an eye out for it. I love all Tommy’s songs, but this one always touches me particularly. “I wish that there was some kind of stone that I could hold to make everything alright… But sometimes stones can’t change the moonlight, sometimes stones can’t make the dark bright.”
Tonight I went to an “exploring the faith” meeting at Crossways. The group is working their way through Marcus Borg's The Heart of Christianity, which I haven’t read, but I found tonight’s discussion interesting anyway. The topic was “thin places” – the idea that there are places, times, or experiences where we are closer to “the divine” or “God” or the deeper reality of the universe. Places where the boundaries or barriers between us and the divine are thinner. For some it was revelations in science, or a beautiful piece of music, or mountain climbing, or looking up at a tall tree.
For me, a lot of my experiences of “thin places” have taken places at Tapu Te Ranga Marae. Chanting karakia in Tane in the darkness before dawn, or planting seedling natives up above Manawa Karioi, or sitting round the table, with candles lit, learning Taize chants. There are other thin places too. Physical places (the south coast of Wellington, Chartres cathedral), emotional or intellectual places (suddenly understanding a concept of astro-physics, or listening to a child’s laughter), even places in time, periods of life when these encounters seem more accessible.
I also realised, as others were speaking about how church is a thin place for them; Sunday mornings are not a thin place for me. What with the fighting over toys, the cries of “I don’t want to,” it’s hard to believe that anything divine permeates our world. And I worry that I’m not facilitating an environment where the children can experience thin places. But perhaps I’m trying to impose adult experiences on children. When I think back to childhood, I probably wouldn’t have experienced Chartres as a thin place. But I think that I did have experiences of the divine. I remember the excitement of seeing Haley’s comet, and a sudden sense of the wonder of the universe. I remember holding a little ball of fluff, and sense of the miraculous, that this living creature had hatched from an egg. And I remember making paper lanterns and walking through the streets with them after dark, as part of a festival at my kindergarten.
So... I’m curious. Does anyone else remember any thin places from their childhood? And can any of these experiences be created, facilitated, encouraged?
I’m taking the Galaxies service (7:30 in the lounge at St Andrew’s on the Terrace) this Sunday. Given my obsession with the whole Destiny saga lately, I thought a good theme for Sunday might be “where to from here?” The outrage that many of us felt initially has its place, but it’s not a constructive response in the long run. So what are some responses to situations of persecution or abuse? There will be some readings, poems, and probably some metta/loving kindness meditation. And we might have a late celebration of Rosh Hashanah with apples and honey... or maybe just some spiced hot chocolate. I haven’t decided!
Posted by Fionnaigh at September 17, 2004 12:52 AM* Southshore sandspit, Christchurch, at 3am.
* Standing shirtless atop a certain pine tree on a steep outcrop at Bethells beach, Auckland; feeling the wind, with curious seagulls floating beside you
* Taking Anglican communion after/during a difficult time, and participating in Easter rituals
* Corporate meetings, where its all about money mone money: I often get a sense of how utterly meaningless is so much of what I do (yet I still do it)
* funerals, especially close relatives or friends, reinforces to me that I am little more than a temporary agglomeration of dust scattered by the wind, gathered together for a brief purpose
AAarrgh that sounds maudlin. Also:
* Intensely sweet times of worship and intimacy with the Lord my Creator, feeling totally accepted, loved, and affirmed
* The sense that Heaven has touched Earth at the wedding of a close friend
"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."
Posted by: robertp at September 17, 2004 01:25 PMI know what you mean about thin places. However, I don't see any reason to associate such experiences with imperfect translations of an old book, or any of the theories about the nature of the universe promoted by various religions.
Posted by: darth sappho at September 17, 2004 03:13 PMThis was my personal experience, and attempt to contribute to the topic. I expressed it in terms that have meaning to me. I wasn't trying to promulgate any particular creed (this time)!
Posted by: robertp at September 17, 2004 04:47 PMA thin place I remember (located in time aswell as space) happened when I was visiting my folks on the farm. I was a bit low, and shuffling along the track from the yard out to the road when some pine tree sporophytes (baby trees) caught my eye.
The idea of young trees representing new life or other hopeful things is nice and predictable, except that this wasn't about an idea. They seemed to glow.
This stopped me, quite gently, where I was and made me feel, not only think about or consider, the closeness of the divine. The line from the poem I wrote afterwards reads "I never expected your brightness in these small trees".
Cheers, Gareth.
Posted by: Gareth at September 21, 2004 12:10 PMThese thin places are nothing more than your perception on life at that specific moment, to step back from the world we live in is hard but if achieved you see life from many pospectives and you seem to become astonished by a sensation of understanding. That understanding has nothing to do with god. It is just an understanding of almost enlightenment, but that is only due to how the human mind perceives things, and this only comes about with age. Let the young enjoy their time as children, and when they are ready to see this place for what it really is they will obtain enlightenment.
Posted by: Barrack at October 22, 2004 12:54 AM