Thin Places, random thoughts, and the journey to the cliff ….Part I

The Celtics called them “thin places”. Places and moments where heaven and earth collide and, just for a moment, we get a glimpse and experience life as it was meant to be.

Last week I was on a long awaited spiritual pilgrimage in Iceland. The word epic is over-used today, but in this case it fits. It was a journey that was beyond words, and on several occasions, I did experience those thin places. There is this place—one of the very few spaces in the world—where the continental drift has caused the North American and European continents to collide. It’s incredible! Rock cliffs go straight up to the sky, and in-between those rock faces is a thin place. Standing there was very profound as I reached out toward two continents.

I just stood still and took in that moment. I felt really small.. It was hard to deny a creator at that moment.

We encountered many other thin places on this journey in Iceland:

• The sheer power of towering waterfalls.
• The moment time stood still in a little church as we starred at a bible dated 1584, and we wondered what that missionary journey must have been like
• The journey through fire and ice
• And of course the continued pursuit of “the cliff”

And so many other places none of us wanted to leave. My son Dylan said it best;  ”these were days that God  gave our band of journeyers, just for us as a gift…  just a days to be overwhelmed by his abundance.”

As I soaked in these thin places I was reminded again  that God cannot be tamed, contained or boxed in and you just never know when these thin places open up. It’s hard to not try and hang on to those moments, even though you know it is not possible.. I find myself hoping for more… actually aching to experience those moments again…

How about you? Any thin places you have experienced lately? Keep your eyes and ears open…