Episode 11: The "Thin Places": Awaken to Divine Presence

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In this episode of Spirituality On The Go, we explore the sacred "thin places," those moments when heaven and earth seem to touch, and the veil between the seen and unseen worlds becomes thin. 

These moments of divine connection can be experienced through quiet meditation, the beauty of nature, or in unexpected encounters that awaken our soul. 

The Celtic tradition calls these moments "thin places," where God's presence feels closer than ever. 

This episode encourages us to cultivate awareness of these sacred moments, to reflect on your own "thin places" and recognize the divine that is always present. 

The episode concludes with a reflective poem, "In Praise of Thin Places," offering a gentle invitation to embrace these sacred experiences with wonder and awe.

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Episode Transcript

Brian Plachta (00:02):
Welcome to Spirituality On The Go.
Today I have a question for you.
Have you ever felt a moment thatwas so sacred, it might have
felt weightless, even surreal,that it seemed like the veil
between heaven and earth hadlifted, disappeared?

(00:25):
It might have felt like for amoment you were someplace else.
Maybe you've experienced thoseaha moments without knowing what
to call them.
Those moments when time standsstill and the ordinary
transforms into theextraordinary because you sense
a deeper presence within you.

(00:47):
A calling to touch somethingdeeper, something almost
mysterious within you, but realas can be.
The Celtic people call thosemoments"thin places." They're
the sacred spaces where heavenand earth draw near, where the

(01:10):
veil between the seen and theunseen worlds becomes still.
The Celtics have a saying,"Heaven and earth are only three
feet apart, but in the thinplaces that distance is even
smaller." Scripture echoes thethin places truth in 2

(01:34):
Corinthians 16 where we hear,"Whenever anyone turns to the
Lord, the veil is taken away."In those moments of thin places,
we sense God is closer than weimagined, because our hearts
have opened.
Thin places are those momentswhere the sacred breaks through

(01:57):
the ordinary.
Where the veil between heavenand earth blows back.
Thin places can be experiencedin moments of quiet meditation.
When the mind stills, the heartopens, and the soul awakens.

(02:18):
Thin places emerge as you watchthe sun melt into the horizon,
its colors painting the sky withwonder.
Thin moments appear when youhear that gentle whisper in the
stillness of your heart, whereyou experience the felt sense of
the divine as a flowing presencewithin your body, a gentle

(02:40):
ripple that awakens your soul tothe sacred nearness of God.
Sacred moments might appear whennature surprises you.
A herd of deer crosses your pathunexpectedly, and you experience
their gentle amazing presence.

(03:04):
In those moments, we know,without needing to understand,
that the Divine Presence is withus, patiently waiting for us to
awaken to it.
So as a spiritual tool for yourtoolbox, I invite you to

discover a practice I call: Becoming aware of the thin (03:20):
undefined
places.
Becoming aware of the thinplaces you experience from time
to time in your life by namingthem, knowing they're real,
drawing your attention to thosemoments when you can say, aha,

(03:44):
this was a thin place that Ientered, if only for a moment.
Cultivating the awareness ofthin places is about developing
a sensitivity to the divinethat's always present, yet
sometimes unnoticed.
This awareness invites you tolive with a deeper sense of

(04:05):
divine presence, noticing thosemoments of divine connection
through meditation, times innature, and in the stillness of
your own heart.
So, I'd like to invite you topause with me for a moment and
enter into quiet place as Ishare with you a poem that I

(04:29):
wrote about my experience in oneof those thin places.
I invite you to just take amoment.
Find a safe place where you canbe in the quiet alone and close
your eyes if you'd like andsimply listen.
May the words from the poem thatI'll read be a doorway, a space

(04:53):
where the mystery of God'spresence brushes against your
soul.

Here's the poem (05:00):
In Praise of Thin Places There are moments
when air softens, when timebends, when weight I didn't know
I carried lifts like mist risingat dawn.
A hush falls, not silence, butsomething deeper.

(05:25):
The space between heartbeats,the breath between words.
Here, knowing fades into purepresence.
Woven of mystery and mercy, theveil between heaven and earth
frays.
It becomes so thin I could reachthrough it, but don't have to.

(05:50):
Because something, someone, isalready reaching for me.
Not in thunder, not in blindinglight, but in the wisp of wind
on my cheek.
In the hush of snowfall.
In the way my breath gasps atthe sight of ocean meeting sky.

(06:15):
And though I cannot hold it,though it vanishes as quickly as
it came, I am left marked, notwith answers, but with wonder
and awe.
For a moment, God has brushedhis cheek upon mine, and that is
enough.

(06:41):
Thank you for sharing this thinplace with me.
May you know you don't have tosearch for God.
The Creator is already reachingfor you, in the wind, in the
waves, in the wonder thatcatches your breath.
As you sit in the quiet,listening to God's whisper, in

(07:04):
the stillness of your heart.
May you use the tool of becomingaware of thin places to draw you
closer to God's presence withinyou and around you.
And today, may you walk gently.

(07:25):
May you open your heart to thethin places in and around you.
And may you know, deep in yourbones, the Divine is always with
you, ready for you to awaken toits loving presence.

(07:45):
The Divine is always with us inthese thin places, in the
ordinary moments, and all wehave to do is awaken.