By Clara Lincicome | Guest Contributor
This week, I read about the concept of “thin places” — places where the line between heaven and Earth seems thinner than usual, where you feel divine presence in the wind, where you gain understanding of the concept of heaven on Earth.
It’s pretty common for thin places to be found in nature. The scenery isn’t human-made, and it’s unplugged so that you can think. It almost feels glorious, like you are looking into the heart of God just by being in the presence of His creation.
Ireland has an overwhelming collection of heavenly green nature. The Cliffs of Moher, Giant’s Causeway and the Wicklow Mountains all shocked me with their beauty. Their grandness made me feel small. They gave me reassurance that the world is much bigger than my anxieties and my burdens.
It’s hard to find time to think, especially when the noise of our busy lives is always at its highest volume. Our society prides itself on endlessly consuming. We never find time to take a step back.
Not having cell service, listening to leaves rustle in the wind and watching waves crash on the shore are all very grounding for me. However, while I believe nature is healing, I’ve learned that thin places can be found more often than we give them credit for. I didn’t need to come to Ireland to experience them.
I think nature makes me feel close to Christ because it is an eye into His creation. While I don’t think heaven is going to be full of trendy coffee shops and tall corporate buildings, I do think breathtaking creation will be in abundance. God created the Cliffs of Moher and the Wicklow Mountains, but he also created you and me. I’ve learned that thin places are found when we take a step back from the human-made creation of indulgence and social media, diving instead into the beauty of experiencing creation, which includes experiencing each other.
This is why I believe the nature of Ireland is a thin place for me, but it’s also why I believe my little house in Waco is too — a place where my favorite people come together to experience creation in a different way. We are missing out on the fullness of life on Earth when we wait for our feet to be planted in picturesque places. I encourage you to make an effort to identify a thin place in your life and to seek to appreciate it in its fullness, digging into its beauty. It might happen to be exactly where you’re at.
Creation is everywhere, and God is always good.
“He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.” Psalm 23:2-3
