The Thin Places That Have Connected To My Soul
My leadership coaching sessions always involve conversations around spirituality and the soul. Some push back and say they don’t have a faith or religion. Others report they are members of a church. While religion can offer structure, the work on one’s soul is a connection to something bigger than oneself. It’s in this work that one discovers one’s purpose. David Brooks’ recent article, The Shock of Faith: It’s Nothing Like I Thought It Would Be, offers insight.
“When faith finally tiptoed into my life it didn’t come through information or persuasion but, at least at first, through numinous experiences.” – David Brooks
Agreed. Going to church, attending church camp, and attending church mission trips didn’t make me a believer. However, it did make me part of a community that shared love and vulnerability and revealed to me what heaven on earth could be.
What made me a believer were experiences of “thin places“—places where God revealed Herself to me and made me aware that She knows me better than I know myself.
“In those moments, you sense that you are in the presence of something overwhelming, mysterious. Time is suspended or at least blurs. One is enveloped by an enormous bliss – David Brooks
The “thin places” where I experienced “ineffable joy and exultation” are hard to describe. However, I recognize that Biblical scriptures come close. They capture the synchronicity between me, God, and the world. They are my brief encounters with heaven on earth.
Here are some of my encounters with “thin places“ where scriptures revealed for me:
I remember a beautiful fall late afternoon sail on Lake Cowan with my mother and father in 1970. Ecclesiastes 1:6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
The first time, my significant other and I made love. Solomon 3:4 I have found the one my soul loves.
Walking in Muir Woods, May 1982. John 1:3 Everything was created through Him; nothing—not one thing! — came into being without Him.
Helping to deliver our daughter, Erin, at her birth. Psalm 139: 13 -16 – Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Easter sunrise service at the Carillon April 3, 1988. Psalm 69:32 – The poor in spirit see and are glad. Oh, you God-seekers, take heart!
When we read Peter Gomes’s book The Good Book, a member of our men’s small group shared his vulnerability. 2 Corinthians 12:9 My power is made perfect in weakness.
Walking the labyrinth at Camp Joy. Galatians 5:16 Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?
Receiving communion from a homeless person at Haywood Street Congregation. Micah 6:8 – But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously—take God seriously.
These experiences renewed my hope and reminded me why I am in a relationship with the Holy and why She loves me with all my imperfections.
“Thin places” opened up the mystical and mysteries, not certainty. I agree with Anne Lamott; the opposite of faith is certainty! What I am sure of is mystery and mystical. I am open to more.
I want to walk the Camino de Santiago and see if that experience could be an encounter with a “thin place.” Perhaps you would like to join me?
