While shopping and walking, listening to some music I got this Christmas, (thanks Kathryn!!) I was kind of struck by how much many people I know regard Iona as a thin place, a place where the separation between Heaven and Earth is 'thin'.
Why it struck me was because while walking and listening to beautiful music, (some not so beautiful) I felt that I was in a thin place. Not a geographical place, not an outstandingly beautiful place, neither was it a lovely sunny day. It was (and still is!) cold, wet and windy…
The words of the music and the meditation on them while walking was profoundly calming. I find myself coming to the realisation that it is who we are rather than where we are. Some people (me included) love the magic of the Island of Iona, but it needn't be that place at all. It is what happens inside that is the magical part and finding the right stimulant to create that feeling wherever we may be is the key.
Iona has that magic in its beauty and in its serenity, it touches more people because it is special historically and people are open to it in a way they are not able to open to other places or things. The key to Iona has always been for me what you take away. Looking for our own thin places or thin experiences the goal to this.
This was today for me real prayer, a closing off of the outside world, listening to deep within connecting with the soul of the world, the undercurrent of passing life, nature and foci. I feel like I am slipping into a different world, much like that in the book by Stephen King 'Insomnia' although without (hopefully) such disastrous consequences. If I start seeing auras then it is time to stop!!
The music:
Levellers: Sell out
Joseph Arthur: In the Sun
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