Member Reflection: Thin Places

Written by Janea Thompson Christensen

Filed under: News

The Celtic saints often referred to somewhere as a 'thin place'. This referred to when the spiritual atmosphere of a location made it easy to connect with God, almost as though there is no barrier between heaven and earth. I have often reflected on this and have determined that my “thin places” are in the wild spaces of nature, where craggy mountains are smothered with tall evergreens and winding waters tumble over stacks of smooth rocks. My thin place is also in the Holy Temple, a place of stillness where I feel God’s love, and where my thoughts of loved ones who’ve passed are so intensely drawn towards heaven I wonder if perhaps their attention and caring are called down to meet me there. 

 

Wandering around the sprawling hospital this week, I did not feel the quiet of nature, or of temples. I saw bustling workers disinfecting beds, people packed elevators, and nurses, scurrying, immersed in the care of their patients. In this place of activity, surprised, I heard the sound of spirits coming and going in the form of beepers that buzzed and bellowed, demanding helpers to assemble in the ER to rescue the dying, those ailing souls that teetered between life and death. Chimes rang out on every floor in unmeasured intervals - that was the sound of babies born, I was told. I imagined little spirits coming to families in the form of tiny, soft, adorably pudgy people. And on the pediatric floor, I was shown the angel room - a space decorated so thoughtfully, it felt like love. A comfy couch, sky blue walls adorned with swirling white doves flying free, and bassinets so small, it seemed they could only ever hold tiny dolls. This was the room families spent time with their babies who had died, this is where they prepared to say goodbye. I wondered how many broken-hearted mothers and fathers, held their little ones one last time in the place where I stood.  Surely this is a thin place, I thought. This whole hospital is a thin place where we greet and release loved ones - a place where heaven and earth meet.  Where devoted workers, committed to being their brother’s keeper, toil day and night to bring life-giving healing. And I get to serve in this sacred place. I am so grateful. 

Janea Thompson Christensen is endorsed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and is in her first unit of CPE at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, WA. A board-certified music therapist, Janea is pursuing an M.A. in Chaplaincy at Grace School of Theology in Woodlands TX and plans on working in healthcare chaplaincy. She currently resides in beautiful Liberty Lake, WA with her husband, her three creative kids and their loveable but spastic dog named Scout.