大象传媒

From Dave Tomlinson, writer and vicar at large:听
Something that often shocks visitors to London is the amount of green space in the capital. One of our favourite green haunts is Queens Wood in Highgate 鈥� 52 acres of ancient woodland wonderfully allowed to grow wild 鈥� where we鈥檝e spent many pleasurable hours walking our beloved lurcher Woody鈥�. where we finally scattered his ashes. On burning city summer days we鈥檝e relished the cool shelter of the old oaks and the hornbeams. In winter we鈥檝e delighted in the woods鈥� transformation into a magical snowy fairyland. We鈥檝e watched sparrow hawks stalking prey, found a heron fishing in a quiet stream, spotted all three species of woodpecker 鈥� while, planes soared overhead, police sirens sounded in the distance.听
The ancient Celts thought of heaven, not as a place far away in the sky, rather, as a form of parallel existence. Heaven and earth are but three feet apart, they鈥檇 say, and there are 鈥渢hin鈥� places where the distance is even less. Queens Wood is one of our thin places: a coppiced cathedral of birdsong, lofty boughs and wild flowers. Being there, we feel we glimpse something beyond the sights and sounds 鈥� a different 鈥榚xistence鈥�, God, however defined. We breathe again鈥�feel beguiled and inspired by the wonder of life鈥�find new and better perspectives on daily stuff that weighs us down. I suspect most of us have such places, though perhaps thinness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder 鈥� one person鈥檚 thin place is another person鈥檚 thick one.听
But actually, I reckon a thin place is really any place where we allow ourselves to be fully present 鈥� a coffee shop, the kitchen, a seat in the park, even a car stuck in traffic. It鈥檚 when we stop hankering to be somewhere else, open ourselves to where we are, start living instead of anxiously spectating. For me, everywhere is a potential thin place. It鈥檚 just that sometimes I鈥檓 too thick to recognise it 鈥� as my wife pointed out recently when I was chuntering irritably in a long line of traffic. 鈥榊ou鈥檒l make yourself ill鈥�, she said. 鈥榃hy not relax and enjoy this undisturbed time with me!鈥� Difficult to argue with that! Heaven was indeed there all along. I just needed to see it. My missus told me so.