Thin Places

Having the mother-in-law in town has been great! This morning, she and the rest of my family went to Dublin Zoo. I'm not really into zoox (opps - typo. I meant zoos, but zoox is a cool sounding word so I'll leave it in even though it doesn't make sense), so I went off elsewhere in the park to find a cafe and read some more (three days in a row now!)

The reading was good. The latte was too. Made by an Italian guy who, when I asked him where he was from said Cork. I guess he is asked that quite a lot and so decided to be a funny guy. (I heard the same gag said to the man in front of me when I went to pay.) Anyway, he made one of those swirls on top of the froth. I'd like to know how that is done. If it hadn't got busier I'd have asked.

After my coffee I went for a walk in the grounds so I could pray. I'm not very good at praying, but I thought a walk and some music might help. It did. I turned up my mp3 player and listened to Edge Hill by Groove Armada while I stepped into the sunken gardens. There's a beautiful moment in the track where the strings kick in and the music lifts you to another place. I found myself singing and harmonizing and creating heart-language lyrics as I listened to this instrumental piece - all for God's praise and glory.


When ancient monks spent time in prayer, meditation and worship while out in nature there were occasions when a real sense of the presence of God was felt. Like the curtain between this world and eternity was held back a moment as if you could reach out and touch... They called these 'thin places'.

Today, for just a couple of minutes, I think I stumbled into a thin place.