a night of thin places

“A thin place is where two worlds meet, where heaven kisses earth and eternal time brushes against ordinary time.”
Liz Budd Ellmann

We are in a time of transition—days to nights, earthly to sacred, and back to earthly. Grounded in all that makes us human, we find ourselves in a series of moments when the air is thin and our vision sharpened.

Shepherds, Innkeepers, Wise ones from afar, and terrified Kings, we join them all to witness a birth—a birth that stirs spirits with hope and promise and stirs egos with threat and tragedy.

The space between heaven and earth has grown thin. The divine was so close that eyes were opened.

A baby was born whose purpose was realized as he drew his first breath. The promise of a coming Messiah had been on the lips of prophets for many years.

Today, we move quickly, as did Joseph. Again in a dream, an angel came to warn that his newborn was at risk of being killed by an enraged king. He led a donkey carrying Mary and the baby out into the night toward Egypt.

A place to live in safety until Herod was no longer a threat.

Yet, as they traveled away, I wonder if they could hear the cries of mothers watching their young sons killed at King Herod's command.

Today, the Church remembers - The Holy Innocents. First-born sons who were put to death because Herod saw Jesus as a threat to his reign.

We witnessed these deaths just as we witnessed Jesus’ birth. The veil had thinned. God's presence was real, and the world knew it was true.

'A thin place is where two worlds meet...' We are living through a time when the air is thin, and vision sharpened. We experience these stories - rejoicing and revolting.

These nights - they are filled with thin places.