Thought for the Month - January 2021
"Thin places for thin times" by Barry Adair
I was thinking about a dream from the Bible this month. It was Pharaoh's dream of the 7 ugly thin cows and the 7 sleek fat cows, which only Joseph was able to interpret. If you remember, in the dream the ugly thin cows proceeded to eat all the sleek fat cows. But more on the dream later…
As I write, many of us are experiencing the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has rightly been in the news since the start of 2020. It has caused many deaths all across the world and only recently has the initial rollout of a viable vaccine raised the mood somewhat. And yet, writing from Northern Ireland, part of the affluent West, I feel we have only experienced a small part of the devastation this pandemic has caused worldwide. I can also see that the affluent West has already bought up most of the early stocks of vaccines, and at a level which would inoculate 3 or 4 times the population of each of these rich countries!
I have a good friend in Nigeria, Africa. They have been referring to this time as 'corona-hunger' rather than corona-virus. Many businesses there have had to close down. But unlike in the West, if you don't work there, you often don't eat there! And in others countries, like Yemen, it is much worse. There, around a quarter of those who were infected with coronavirus have died of Covid-19. And for Christians living in certain Muslim countries, many have been excluded from receiving any food aid and some have been given the job of burying those who have succumbed to the virus, and all without any personal protective equipment!
This has certainly been a 'thin' time for our world - 1.75 million deaths (and counting), many millions of grieving family members and most countries in economic turmoil. 2020 has seen hundreds of millions of people adversely affected, all across the world. Governments in the West have pumped billions of dollars/pounds into the economy and into the bank accounts of those who have been furloughed. This ugly and thin time is eating up the sleek fat times we had previously been enjoying in the West. I'm just hoping that, unlike in Pharaoh's dream, this present thin time won't last for 7 years!
Talking of thin times and thin cows reminded me of a Celtic phrase that is still used in Ireland today. I'm referring to 'thin places', a pre-Christian term that was first used by the ancient Celts. They used it to describe mesmerising places like Croagh Patrick (windswept mountain in Co Clare) or Navan Fort (ancient temple site in County Armagh). To them, you were closer to heaven in places like this and therefore these places were considered 'thin'. Although not a Biblical term, I still like it and use it from time to time. In fact, like me, you may have 'thin places' where you go to be alone with God with your thoughts and problems? If you remember, even Jesus needed times away on His own, away from everyone and everything…
"But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray." Luke 5:16
One of my favourite thin places is Cairn Wood, up on the Holywood Hills, close to where I live. Another is Navan Fort in Co Armagh (see photos), not far from my parents' house. And if you arrive at the right time, you often have the thin place to yourself. I have also climbed Croagh Patrick many years ago and it certainly sticks in the memory as a spectacular place (and especially the view from the top!).
Although I like to get away to my thin places to be alone with God, I'm not that much of a deep thinker. However, I know of a man who was and so I have used a few quotations from the 19th century Danish philosopher and theologian Soren Kierkegaard as I end this month. There are also a couple here which could have been written with the coronavirus pandemic very much in mind!
As in our 'thin places', sometimes silence before God is good for the soul…
"The present state of the world and the whole of life is diseased. If I were a doctor and were asked for my advice, I should reply, 'Create silence'."
In these times of turmoil, we need the assurance that only God can give to us, through His indwelling Spirit…
"To be lost in spirit-lessness is the most terrible thing of all."
Life with our creator God is true living. Life becomes meaningful only with Him in our lives…
"God creates out of nothing. Wonderful you say. Yes, to be sure, but he does what is still more wonderful: he makes saints out of sinners."
"Now, with God's help, I shall become myself."
And if you don't know the Lord, please make your peace with Him in this New Year and look forward to an eternity in His presence, rather than an eternity of loss…
"Once you are born in this world, you're old enough to die."
"Do you not know that there comes a midnight hour when everyone has to throw off his mask? Do you believe that life will always let itself be mocked? Do you think you can slip away a little before midnight to avoid this?"
"The most painful state of being is remembering the future, particularly the one you'll never have."
God has been forgotten about in most aspects of daily life in the West. We do well to remember that God is a very present help - through thick and thin!
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1)
In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
(Stuart Townend)
Until next month (DV)…
(All Bible quotations are from the NASB)
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