Risky Business of the Thin Place

A number of years ago I drove highway 12 in Utah, which is a loop from Bryce Canyon east to Escalante then north and finally west again where it reconnects to the main highway leading to Salt Lake City. This scenic drive takes one on a winding road up to the very peak of the Rocky Mountains. One section was a mere two lane road with sheer 9,000 foot drop offs on both sides, straight down the mountain sides. I had the impression that a strong wind could blow us right off the edge. It was a terrifying yet absolutely awe inspiring drive, leaving me with the sense that I had been in the presence of our creator, experiencing the beauty of this world as God intends it to be.

I felt something similar when I lived near Lake Michigan and could walk the beaches and experience the changes of seasons in that immense body of water, from the rich deep colors of summer to the muted tones of winter with snow and ice.

Spiritually speaking experiences of God breaking into our every day lives are described as a “thin” place, when the veil between this realm and the next is thin or lifted. 

Thin place experiences are always unexpected and may be totally missed if one is not paying attention. Some people yearn for thin place experiences, where the veil is lifted and one’s awareness of God’s presence is enhanced. Finding one’s self in a thin place is often the result of a journey through risky terrain. 

We live in a world today that often runs contrary to thin places, that is instead thick and wooly. 

Some say that society is deep in what Murray Bowen Family System’s Theory calls “Societal Regression.” Societal regression is always symptomatic of a society that is clamping down from chronic anxiety and fear of change. The last time society went through a major regression was in the Middle Ages. Then the angst and fear produced the crusades and instituted an idea that the world was flat and that nothing existed beyond a few known countries and continents. That regression was broken open when some explorers dared to break through the fear and set sail across the waters. Fear was replaced by a few brave souls who were willing to step out into the unknown with creative imagination. That ushered in the era of Renaissance and eventually the reformation of church and state. 

Bowen theory says that the United States began a downward slope of societal regression in the late 1950’s, post WWII. This regression is the result of chronic anxiety caused by wage stagnation, fewer job opportunities, increased population growth, fewer natural resources, and is influenced by changing social norms around racism and gender as well as the reality of larger global influences, all changes that are increasing fear and anxiety around change, and thus a reactive pull inward, in an effort to limit change. The cycle of regression lasts until the society can turn around and engage in brave, creative, inspired, risk taking endeavors.

In the mean time, one of the primary symptoms of anxious times is a tendency to criticize, to dissect and take apart what others say and do. In all forms of social media, on Sunday “news programs,”  in political arenas, and in other community relationships, arguments are polarizing; with people aligning at the ends, leaving little room for thoughtful discussions and the seeking of a middle ground.

How we speak to one another, and our capacity to listen and ponder the grace and the gift in the other, is crucial in order to move out of anxiety and into hope and grace. Our reading this morning from Deuteronomy addresses this by asking the question “How does one know a prophet is from God?” “Who speaks for God?

Likewise Paul, in his first letter to the church in Corinth says we know that "all of us possess knowledge…(however) knowledge puffs up, but love builds up… Prophets speaking the word of God are always pointing the way toward love and justice as  God proclaims it all are loved, all are valued.

In December Bishop Gibbs spoke to us in an adult forum regarding what it means to be Episcopalian in the world today. He also offered us a gift, the potential to have another Curate for three years, for which he would pay half of the curate’s package if we can pay the other half. 

Shortly after the Bishop made this offer we went into Christmas break, with some people leaving town and others preparing for the many upcoming services we were hosting, including Lessons and Carols, Christmas, the Martin Luther King interfaith service, and today’s annual meeting. In the weeks since the Bishop was here we created and passed a budget for 2018. We’ve all been hard at work tending to year end and new year items that need to be addressed in a timely manner. We have not had time to thoughtfully consider what the Bishop offered us. 

However the five members of the Vestry who will continue on next year, and I, were able to begin a conversation about this when we met for dinner last Wednesday night. With a little intentionality we managed a conversation that was considered, thoughtful, and respectful of the Bishop’s offer, of the differing views we each hold, and of the views that others have already shared on this idea. Some have raised valid points about money while others have, in equally valid ways, have called us to pay attention to God’s call to us. 

I believe, and some members of the Vestry said as much, that beginning this conversation from our most anxiety-filled place, which right now is money and finances, is not the place to begin. I believe this even as we are keenly aware of and respect the financial concern and recognize its validity. 

The vestry and I, having heard a number of viewpoints on the matter, are entering into a time of prayer, listening, and discerning where God is present and how God is calling us. In the next weeks and months the Vestry will invite opportunities for deeper and wider community listening, reflection, discerning. This is not a time to criticize one another, nor to speak derisively of this idea, other ideas, of the bishop nor of one another. We’re aiming for gracious listening, for gratitude and kindness, for creativity and imagination, and regardless of where we finally end up, that this may lead us all into a thin place, into the holy and sacredness of God’s desire and purpose for us, now, in this time and place.

I pray that we can see with our spiritual eyes, gazing through the veil to embrace the vision of ourselves that God sees in us, and then have the courage and inspiration to follow God, being willing to be risk takers, however that is revealed to us…and letting love build us up instead of knowledge puffing us up. 

Thus, with love and through love, of God and one another, let us see what good can come out of us.

a reflection on 1 Corinthians 8:1-13