As an author I’m really drawn to the idea of ‘Thin places’. Locations in this world where the veil between here and the Spiritual world are thinner and more traversable, so the two worlds interact with each other a little more easily, where you can be present in the physical and the spiritual at the same time. The reason this appeals to me is partially because as a writer is seems kind of mystical, magical and special, and brings to mind journeys to Narnia, wonderland and other worlds I’ve had the pleasure of exploring through books and movies. While as a Christian is feels holy and sacred, a chance to be closer to my God, to hear Him more clearly and to know that I’m not simply speaking into the ether.
I think that locations, as often mentioned in folk law, I’m looking at you Bermuda Triangle and Stonehenge, can definitely be thin places. I am sure that there are places in this world where we feel the spiritual and peace more easily, where something deep within us stirs more willingly. But I also believe that WE can be the thin places. That locked within us is the potential to commune with the Spiritual world. Which maybe sounds a little... off, but what I mean is that within everyone of us is the ability to find stillness. For me, in the stillness, in the secret, quiet place is where I meet God, it’s where the Holy Spirit connection feels most tangible. It’s where all the masks are dropped, the curtains are drawn wide open and I am my most vulnerable self. I can find this kind of ‘Thin place’ on a beautiful beach (one of my favourite places), in a church, listening to music, doing yoga, or even in my bed. The constant factor in all these situations is me and my desire to be vulnerable, to be authentically me, to be open to the prompting of God/Holy Spirit and often accepting that my most authentic self is imperfect. This vulnerable position, I imagine, could also leave us open to the negative spiritual influences that are also searching for a place to settle, but that is where the beauty of knowing who and whose you are comes in. Knowing truth means being able to resist lies, to let them bounce off of you like bullets rebounding off of Superman’s chest. Lies are whether audible spoken or internalised are completely ineffective in the face of confident truth. Truth is strong enough to drive lies and liars away, or at least to prevent them taking up permanent residence in your heart and mind, in general lies don’t like to be exposed as what they really are. I only mention this because vulnerability does leave us vulnerable to attack. I believe that the thin place we each carry inside us is where, for me at least, we get our grand ideas. It’s where characters are born and stories are devised. It’s where songs are created and visions are painted. It is a place of creation and creativity. At a time like now, where so many people are trapped within four walls, where going to a geologically thin place is inaccessible. Now is the time to find our own internal thin places. I suppose you could enter into your thin place through busyness and gruelling exercise, I know that is exactly where some people find it. But for me, remembering that I am a talking type word person in my normal life, I find my thin place in peace, sometimes in quiet, sometimes with music or noise, occasionally with candles, sometimes deep in thought or meditation, sometimes while in the flow of thinking or creating, and even occasionally while cooking and cleaning, but all the time I find it in a place of internal stillness and peace, a place of freedom. I’d love to hear where you find your thin places. How you set yourself up to enter your thin place, and even what you discover there. Praying that your thin place blesses you with hope for the future and inspiration for today. God Bless Karla
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Karla RoseI'm a Christian, a wife, and a mother of two living in the wonderful Waikato Archives
April 2021
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