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The Thin Places
7/4/22 21:20I've been watching a programme about the islands around Scotland and their links with the early Celtic church. Many Irish monks who became saints travelled these islands 1600 years ago, spreading the word of their god. I was not watching for the religious content, but for Scotland itself, it is a place that is important in my life although I struggle to explain why, but then an idea in the narration grabbed my attention and it hasn't left me since.
Many people in the footage, both religious and otherwise, explain their connection to the islands off Scotland - how they had felt drawn there and at peace there. How they had had different lives but somehow longed for these places without ever having set foot upon them before. They spoke of an idea of a 'thin place'. Now, ideas differ as to whether this is something the saints spoke of, whether it is a Celtic state of awareness or if it is a poem or a song or the writing of someone inspired by these places, but the concept is the same.
The thin places, as they explained it, are places where you can feel that the wall between you and your god or some higher power or an awareness of the spiritual is much closer than in your day to day life, as if you could reach out and touch them. Being scientifically minded and an atheist , I thought I might dismiss such fanciful notions but they resonated with me because I have experienced these places and although I was not moved to explain these sensations as being nearer a god, nonetheless I was brought up short by them.
Some of these places have been in Scotland, some in the mountains of Europe, one, very strangely, in a city in Italy. Many of them have been close to water - rivers, lakes, the sea - and almost all of them have been in nature. They are places that have removed the chatter of my daily life from my mind, places to rest, to exist more simply, even for a few moments. Their colours seem brighter, more pleasing, their sounds more soothing. They refresh your soul and lead you to a place of deep calm where perspective is restored and the irritations and distractions of daily life drop away as if they had never been there. Sometimes they are specific to a time of day or a change in the light. Sometimes they move you to tears although you cannot say why. And these places are rare.
I would suggest that there are some places that most people would recognise as being special or apart from others, even the most pragmatic of souls can feel the difference. Some people I think are more sensitive to such locations - or perhaps there are these places for everyone and they don't all look the same or have the same elements which they are made from.
To me it feels like lightness - like a weight I hadn't even known I was carrying around with me has been lifted. It brings to mind music and gives a clarity of thought and a surge of creativity. In such places, I am patient and slow of thought instead of driven by reaction to my environment. I am quiet in mind and of speech. And now I know why. I know what these places are - these are my thin places - rare and priceless.
Many people in the footage, both religious and otherwise, explain their connection to the islands off Scotland - how they had felt drawn there and at peace there. How they had had different lives but somehow longed for these places without ever having set foot upon them before. They spoke of an idea of a 'thin place'. Now, ideas differ as to whether this is something the saints spoke of, whether it is a Celtic state of awareness or if it is a poem or a song or the writing of someone inspired by these places, but the concept is the same.
The thin places, as they explained it, are places where you can feel that the wall between you and your god or some higher power or an awareness of the spiritual is much closer than in your day to day life, as if you could reach out and touch them. Being scientifically minded and an atheist , I thought I might dismiss such fanciful notions but they resonated with me because I have experienced these places and although I was not moved to explain these sensations as being nearer a god, nonetheless I was brought up short by them.
Some of these places have been in Scotland, some in the mountains of Europe, one, very strangely, in a city in Italy. Many of them have been close to water - rivers, lakes, the sea - and almost all of them have been in nature. They are places that have removed the chatter of my daily life from my mind, places to rest, to exist more simply, even for a few moments. Their colours seem brighter, more pleasing, their sounds more soothing. They refresh your soul and lead you to a place of deep calm where perspective is restored and the irritations and distractions of daily life drop away as if they had never been there. Sometimes they are specific to a time of day or a change in the light. Sometimes they move you to tears although you cannot say why. And these places are rare.
I would suggest that there are some places that most people would recognise as being special or apart from others, even the most pragmatic of souls can feel the difference. Some people I think are more sensitive to such locations - or perhaps there are these places for everyone and they don't all look the same or have the same elements which they are made from.
To me it feels like lightness - like a weight I hadn't even known I was carrying around with me has been lifted. It brings to mind music and gives a clarity of thought and a surge of creativity. In such places, I am patient and slow of thought instead of driven by reaction to my environment. I am quiet in mind and of speech. And now I know why. I know what these places are - these are my thin places - rare and priceless.
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