Daily Worship

Thin Places

Rachel August 05, 2016 0 0

Genesis 1 v31 – 2 v3

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.  By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
 

In the Celtic tradition we hear talk, even rumours of ‘thin places’.  Places where we see that heaven and earth are so close together that just one step would take us from the weighty things of earth to the very light of heaven.  To take that step we must stop!

That step need not be a physical step, maybe just a longer than usual glance at God’s handiwork, giving ourselves permission to pause and take pleasure in this created world.  

God is the great artist…indulging us with remarkable sunsets, incredible landscapes.  Sometimes when I’m in remote places I try to imagine my surroundings without the pylons and the tarmac…and these become for me ‘thin places’.

"Oh I have slipped the surly bonds of earth...

And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand, and touched the face of God." (John Gillespie Magee Jr)


Lord we praise you for the marvels of this world in which we live,
we are thankful for the integration of rest,
that we may stop awhile and be refreshed…
in our bodies,
in our minds,
in our spirit.
Thankful that we may stop to gaze and admire the work of your hands, to see it as you see it, and to proclaim it to be very good.
Grant us wisdom to embrace a little of the Sabbath each day, that we may recognise, rejoice and be glad in your creation.
In the smile of a child, the tender touch of a lover, the wisdom of our elders.

Amen.