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A Thin Place

October 5, 2016 by Sybil Macbeth 7 Comments Leave a Comment

Ireland is often described as a “thin place,” one of those physical but mystical locations on the planet where God and the Divine seem particularly close or accessible. The mind clears, the heart opens, and epiphanies occur unbidden in these places. Whether this is the nature of the place itself or the result of hundreds of years of prayers and expressions of awe uttered in these places is unclear. The boundaries between spirit and flesh, between heaven and earth seem to vanish.

I was in Ireland for 18 days. This water-wrapped country is so beautiful, so lush, and so green. I “Ooh”ed and “Aah”ed with the same frequency as I did when I lived in Colorado in 2015 and my daily prayer was “Wow!” Although no particular holy spot in Ireland knocked me upside the head or was a thin place for me, I felt thin here. (And not in physique.) By thin, I mean that the inside of me felt close to the outside of me–that I was like a piece of sheer fabric, maybe even porous.

I am not a cryer. I cry about twice a year, usually inappropriately watching a movie about dogs or reading a children’s book. But in Ireland I cried daily. At Glendalough, the 6th century woodsy monastic home of St. Kevin, a clump of soft, spring green moss brought me to tears. On the winding narrow road to the west coast, the rock-enclosed fields of sheep wading through knee high grass set me off. The rocky cliffs of the Atlantic Ocean at the edge of the Dingle Peninsula overwhelmed me. The tiny churches and stone cells of saints who spent years in solitude and prayer brought tears. An experienced guide at St. Sourney’s Well in the Burren talked about the relationship between people and their landscape and I started to cry. And though I am uncertain whether these are tears of sorrow, joy, or astonishment they were cleansing, maybe even baptismal–as if they had been waiting for a way out for a long time.

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Filed Under: Praying in Color Tagged With: Glendalough, Ireland, the Burren, thin places

Comments

  1. Megan Weiskopf says

    October 5, 2016 at 11:43 am

    Sybil, a dear friend and colleague led a trip to Ireland 3 years ago and I was lucky enough to go with her. We spent 10 days there. I still have a vivid memory of lying on my back on the grass at Dun Aengus, on Inishmore, and my friend saying to me, “We have to soak this up. We have to store it away. Don’t you feel at peace?” I still call on that memory and others from Ireland in moments when I am feeling depleted. I shared your post with her and she has shared it with her 12th grade students as they begin a unit on Irish history as a backdrop to the Irish literature she will teach them. Thank you for this. Love and miss you! -Megan

    Reply
    • Sybil Macbeth says

      October 5, 2016 at 1:27 pm

      Thank you, Megan. This is wonderful to hear. I could go back easily.

      Reply
  2. Valerie says

    October 5, 2016 at 9:10 pm

    Yes. Exactly.

    Reply
  3. Jamie Wyatt says

    October 5, 2016 at 11:52 pm

    Thank you for sharing and the supporting pictures. Would love to visit Ireland!

    Reply
  4. Linda Alley says

    October 7, 2016 at 11:04 pm

    Sybil, I have often remembered your comment about feeling thinner and more porous in Ireland, especially as I’ve printed our photos and went back there.
    I think I felt so much a part if the wide landscape there it was as if the boundaries melted away and I could truly flow with the wind and the sea.

    I enjoyed what you shared. -Linda

    Reply
    • Sybil Macbeth says

      October 8, 2016 at 4:05 am

      I like your way of saying you “felt part of the wide landscape.” Thanks.

      Reply
  5. Laura Shamber says

    October 10, 2016 at 4:46 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing such a beautiful reflection!

    Reply

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