'Thin places' is a Celtic Christian term that describes areas where people feel the distance between heaven and earth collapse. Poets, writers and travellers make grand claims about the power of such spaces to transform us.
This summer, I found the perfect candidate for such a place in the North West of Scotland at the isolated Sandaig Bay, otherwise known as Gavin Maxwell's 'Camusfearna' in his book The Ring of Bright Water.
Many years ago, I had to read Ring of Bright Water at school and was told it was about otters. I doubt it would be read in schools now as it comes with two trigger warnings on the website 'doesthedogdie.com', and it is not just the dog that dies! However, the book's primary focus is Sandaig and its magnetic hold on Maxwell. It was a place that intoxicated him with its beauty. When I read it as a young teenager, I struggled to understand it; my urban English existence did not have the categories to imagine it despite his vibrant writing.
The adventure of discipleship in a risk-locked society
When was the last time you heard the hymn ‘To be a Pilgrim’ by John Bunyan, or how about ‘Onward, …