Thin places are times and
locations where God comes very close to humanity. Since the beginning of
October, we’ve seen that this can be in dreams, in acts of nature, even in
seasons of the year. In Celtic Christianity, all of life was a part of the
holiness of God and God was within and without and around all parts of life.
Many prayers gathered from the few writings of ancient Gaelic and Irish sources
focus on asking God to be present in the minutia of the day. From getting up
and dressing, to milking the cow and kindling the fire, to going to bed and traveling-God
is invoked into each of these actions.
Moses could have related to seeing God into all parts of life. During his early life in Egypt he learned
to worship gods for every part of life. Various gods were credited with causing
the annual Nile floods, providing fertility to land and creature, giving light
and dark, etc. Coming to Midian and learning about the Yahweh might have been a
challenge to him as he learned that there is only One God over all things. Then
he had his own encounter with that One God.
We know the story. “Moses was keeping the flock of his
father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian; and he led his flock to the west
side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.” (Exodus
3:1) The scene that follows has been immortalized in song and cinema and art
throughout the ages. 
The shepherd Moses is confronted
by the Living God in a “bush that was
burning, yet it was not consumed.” Moses decides to “turn aside and see this great sight.” (Exodus 3:2-3) It is then
that he meets God in this ‘thin place’. God tells him to “put off your shoes…for the place on which you are standing is holy
ground…I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob.” (Exodus 3:5)
Moses was willing to take a
moment to check out “this great sight” and because he did, God was able to meet
him and commission him to free the Children of Israel from their bondage in
Egypt. Of course Moses hesitates and argues with God saying, “who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and
bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” (Don’t we all have that tendency
when we sense God is calling us to step outside our comfort zone?)
When Moses left the path to see
the bush, he was already on the road to saying ‘yes’ to God, even if he didn’t
know it. He was aware of God’s presence around him and responded to the flaming
bush-partly with curiosity and partly in faith.
How often do we take time to
notice whether the bush in our path is burning or not? I have to admit that too
often I rush on by, focused on getting to ‘my’ destination. Stopping to ‘smell
the roses’ gets put on the back burner as I scamper on my busy way. Lao-Tzu is
quoted as saying, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Our faith journeys also start with a single step toward God. When we pause long
enough to notice that there is a bush or ministry or event alive with the
holiness of God, we are already allowing God to break into our life and, very
likely, transform it.
Next time we’ll consider times
when God has to ‘get our attention’.
