Thin Places

Thoughts on the Way to the Abbey has moved to a different location and I wanted to post some quotes that I had bookmarked before the archives go down.

The Irish speak of a tradition of "thin places." It is believed among us...that there are sequestered, sacred spaces on earth where, if you listen very carefully, you can hear God more clearly and feel God more closely than you thought possible.

The metaphor sometimes used for these places is that of a wisp of veiling. Between us and God there seems to exist a wall that hides God and makes us feel often alone. At times, this wall is no more than an ethereal veil. Should you press your hand against it, a hand presses back, and should you whisper to it, a Voice answers."

"Make no mistake about it, the secret to discovering thin places is not in finding some coveted geographical location. The secret is inside of us. All the world becomes a thin place, as we learn to listen. Listen, St. Benedict calls to us. Listen to every moment. Every day calls out."

--Lonni Collins Pratt and Daniel Holman, O.S.B, from Benedict's Way

And also from the above book:

"Benedictines take a vow of stability. They know that eventually another monastery is going to look better. Another way of life will sound appealing. They will question themselves. They will question the people who make choices that affect their lives. They will someday wonder about every single choice they have ever made. 

And when that happens, they will remember the promise of stability made before God, their brothers, their families, and their friends.

Despite circumstances, they will stand still, they will shut up, and they will outlast the doubts. They will outlast the darkness that corners all of us every now and then. You could call it holy stubbornness.... Stability calls us to believe, that if we stay where we are, God will find us."

And

Consider also these words from Cyprian Smith (Ampleforth Abbey), again emphasis mine:

"Nothing frightens us more than the prospect of having to hold to a particular course, come what may.  The deep instability in our nature corrodes our marriages, our...vocations, our friendships, our work. We are prey to our passing moods...At times we have reason to wonder whether we possess such a thing as a single unified personality... To remedy this situation is one of the primary aims of the monastic life, as it is all Christian life...there is an abiding sense that however things may be going, even though they may not seem at the moment to be going particularly well, he is nevertheless in the right place, doing the right thing with the right people. The passing moods cease to matter; they are recognized as transient and ephemeral, like clouds in the sky."

--from  The Path of Life: Benedictine Spirituality for Monks and Lay  People