Ireland, Thin Places, and Beauty

     One year ago today I was in Ireland.  I wish I was still there! 
     My trip to Ireland was a dream come true for me and my friend, Rhonni.  We had been talking about going to Ireland for ten years - dreaming, planning, saving.  Every year that we thought we could actually make the trip happen, something would come up - the proverbial bump in the road - that kept us from fulfilling the dream.  Finally, we made the decision that 2010 was the year.  We would go to Ireland ... and we did.  It was fantastic and even more beautiful than I had imagined.  Cool, green, and stunning.  I imagine that heaven will look a lot like Ireland!
     Obviously, one of the reasons that I loved Ireland was the amazing beauty, but another reason that I loved it had less to do with the things that I saw with my eyes and more to do with what I saw with the spiritual connection that I found there.  That concept is a little difficult to explain, but I will try.
     Ireland for me felt like home, even though I had never been there before.  In the ten years that we were planning the trip, I did some reading about Irish history, St. Patrick, and Celtic Christianity.  In my reading, I found an ancient Celtic concept known as "thin places" - places where the veil between the world we see and the Other World is thin.  Places where we can "see" into another world that we miss because we are wrapped up in our day to day living.  Ireland was like that for me.  The trip allowed me to step out away from my daily grind and experience a new world - a world of beautiful creation, a world where I could just be, and could enjoy that beauty.  I wanted to stay in that place forever, but could not.
     Or could I?  Maybe the point is not that the thin places are in Ireland, but that there are thin places all around us.  We just don't see them because we don't take the time.  Maybe I miss the thin places that are there when I am talking to a friend or having a phone conversation with my son because I am too worried about all the other stuff I need to be doing.  Maybe I miss the thin places that exist in my surroundings because I am grumbling about the heat or the cold or whatever else I am focusing on. 
    Seeing the thin places allows me to see the beauty that is here and helps me see what truly matters.  I need to look for those places every day.
     Seen any thin places lately?