One Good Turn Deserves Another

Search for “thin places” on the internet and one finds many Blogs and articles all describing the experience of being in such a place.  It was a term first coined by the Celtic saints who used it to describe places where heaven and earth seemed to merge.  However, spiritual sites exist around the world and many indigenous peoples have places that they regard as sacred.  The early Christians in Britain marked these special sites with memorials or churches and many of them have become places of pilgrimage.  I think particularly of the islands of Lindisfarne and Iona, simply because they are relatively nearby.

In 2021, the BBC first aired a series with Ben Fogle called “Scotland’s Sacred Islands” where he visits the Outer Hebrides and Shetland, trying to find out what makes these islands places where one experiences peace and calm.  He meets inhabitants of all persuasions to find out why they think that the islands are special places. On Harris, for example, he meets up with a Muslim who feels the harmony between his faith and that of the traditional Protestants and says that he feels closer to God there than anywhere else.

Last September, I went with my cousins to the Outer Hebrides, part of Scotland’s “Sacred Islands”.  I had been before and had fallen in love with place and was thrilled to have the opportunity to go back. My cousins had been offered a week in a cottage on Lewis in return for lending a car to the owner of the cottage when he was on a visit to South Africa.  As my mother was fond of quoting, “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days” – Ecclesiastes 11:1. (Hence my title; in case you were wondering!)

My cousins came eager to learn more about the times of spiritual awakening on Lewis and were fortunate that there were books on the subject in the cottage.  The revival of 1949-1952 was the one that had the most profound effect on the island and started after two elderly sisters began to pray regularly for their church in Barvas.  It is a remarkable story and you can read all about it by clicking on this link: https://romans1015.com/lewis-revival/

With everything closed on a Sunday on the island, we made our way to Barvas church for their morning worship.  It was lovely to see so many families with children in the congregation and to feel ourselves warmly welcomed.  A few of the members chatted to us after the service and one man volunteered that his uncle had been part of the revival.  His memory of his uncle was that he was always full of joy even to his life’s end.  Despite the church’s history, I would not say that the building felt like a “thin place” to me.

The more likely “thin places” were the ancient sites that we visited, including the Callanish stones.  St Clements church in Rodel, at the southern tip of Harris, was built in the early 1500s by Alasdair Macleod. It is the burial place of the Macleods and the now derelict church contains an amazing collection of medieval and post-reformation sculptures and carvings. Alasdair Macleod was said to be devout as well as a patron of the arts. The church was dedicated to the first century pope, Pope Clement I.

We also visited the old church of Columba at Ui which was, in its day, the Westminster Abbey of Lewis.  It was built in the fourteenth century but stands on the site of earlier chapel dedicated to St Catan.  Ui was the principal ecclesiastic site in Lewis for several centuries and the burial place of the rulers of the island.

However, despite these ancient monuments, it is the breathtaking scenery which is the highlight of a visit to Lewis and Harris.  There is something so peaceful about it that one does feel that heaven is touching earth.  Sit on a cliff and look out to sea and you will sense that you are in a “thin place”.

There is, of course, a big difference between visiting a place and living there.  We were very fortunate in the weather, especially since the locals told us that it was the first dry spell they had had all summer.  When life is busy and hard going, it can be difficult to be still and discover the “thin place” where God is waiting for you. For our well-being, we need to find that space and time.