July 13, 2018
Dear Village Family,
I have been seeing a number of cardinals lately. Every time I do, I pray for Sharon, a friend of mine. Her husband died after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. His diagnosis was a shock. They caught it far too late, and he died within the year leaving her, their children and all of us grief stricken.
Soon after he died, Sharon was in the backyard of their home, and she looked up to see this gorgeous cardinal staring at her. She smiled as she remembered that her husband, Dave, had loved cardinals and delighted in them. As she stood there, she expected the usually skittish creature to fly away. Instead, it seemed to accompany her while she moved about the backyard. Astonished, she talked to it and said, “Well, what are you doing following me around?” Then, she paused and looked at the bird and it just sat there staring back at her. Then, after a few moments, she said quietly, “Dave?” And the bird chirped at her then flew away. Now, whenever I see a cardinal, I pray for her and for Dave.
The ancient Celts were known to talk about “thin places.” These are physical places where they believed by some great mystery that the distance between heaven and earth was at its thinnest. Christian mystics have long talked about this, too. And they have named both thin places, physical locations, as well as thin moments, specific times when we most feel the presence of God.
I do not know if somehow Dave was embodied in that cardinal, but I do know that was a thin moment for Sharon. I do not know for certain what happens to us when we die. But I believe that we are taken up to heaven where we are joined with God and Jesus Christ and all the saints, that great “cloud of witnesses,” the children, women, and men, who have died and gone to heaven before us.
Is it possible that God reveals more of God’s self to us in a thin place or a thin moment? Absolutely.
Is it possible that some in the cloud of witnesses reveal themselves to us in a thin place or a thin moment to let us know that they are all right and remain with us? I believe it is.
I invite you to look for thin places and thin moments in the days ahead and when you encounter them, to share that with another.
Gratefully,
Rodger
I have been seeing a number of cardinals lately. Every time I do, I pray for Sharon, a friend of mine. Her husband died after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. His diagnosis was a shock. They caught it far too late, and he died within the year leaving her, their children and all of us grief stricken.
Soon after he died, Sharon was in the backyard of their home, and she looked up to see this gorgeous cardinal staring at her. She smiled as she remembered that her husband, Dave, had loved cardinals and delighted in them. As she stood there, she expected the usually skittish creature to fly away. Instead, it seemed to accompany her while she moved about the backyard. Astonished, she talked to it and said, “Well, what are you doing following me around?” Then, she paused and looked at the bird and it just sat there staring back at her. Then, after a few moments, she said quietly, “Dave?” And the bird chirped at her then flew away. Now, whenever I see a cardinal, I pray for her and for Dave.
The ancient Celts were known to talk about “thin places.” These are physical places where they believed by some great mystery that the distance between heaven and earth was at its thinnest. Christian mystics have long talked about this, too. And they have named both thin places, physical locations, as well as thin moments, specific times when we most feel the presence of God.
I do not know if somehow Dave was embodied in that cardinal, but I do know that was a thin moment for Sharon. I do not know for certain what happens to us when we die. But I believe that we are taken up to heaven where we are joined with God and Jesus Christ and all the saints, that great “cloud of witnesses,” the children, women, and men, who have died and gone to heaven before us.
Is it possible that God reveals more of God’s self to us in a thin place or a thin moment? Absolutely.
Is it possible that some in the cloud of witnesses reveal themselves to us in a thin place or a thin moment to let us know that they are all right and remain with us? I believe it is.
I invite you to look for thin places and thin moments in the days ahead and when you encounter them, to share that with another.
Gratefully,
Rodger