“Thin places are places of energy. A place where the veil between this world and the eternal world is thin. A thin place is where one can walk in two worlds – the worlds are fused together, knitted loosely where the differences can be discerned or tightly where the two worlds become one.” – Thin Places Tour website
The Thin Places Tour takes groups of people to places in Ireland and other countries that have been identified as bridging between this world and the next, between what is seen and not seen. There is a mystical, other-worldly quality and/or feeling that some experience in these places.
What is intriguing to me about this idea is the idea of seen and unseen. Are we humans with a soul or are we souls having a human experience as some have said? How can one know, experience, believe what is not discernible to the senses? I can see my hands, your face, hear grandchildren’s laughter, touch a cactus (not recommended), taste salt and sweet, smell freshly baked bread and Durian. But how do I sense those things which make you unique: your thoughts, turn of phrase, the sum of intangibles that collectively bring you to mind? And what’s this whole “mind” and “heart” thing? A “good heart”? A “kind soul”?
Perhaps, just perhaps, each of us is a mobile thin place, harboring a threshold within. A duality of seen and unseen bridging between. The quality and richness of our lives, finding meaning in what can be a meaningless “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die” world, depends upon honing our ability to not fixate on the seen, believing it is all there is. To turn with regularity to the internal threshold where spirit meets spirit, unseen meets unseen. Where we meet the meaningful.
Emmanuel. God with us.
Just Sayin' 