[The Red Jeep Journals are stories from the places where God takes me to preach and witness and tell and sing and encourage and nudge everyone I meet one step closer to Christ.]
Recently we stayed in a Bed and Breakfast in a small midwestern village. Sun’s up. It’s Morning. I’m at one end of the breakfast table. Two ladies are at the other end. We are sipping coffee and orange juice. Lois is skipping the breakfast for the same reason I am there—there are strangers in the room.
The ladies are managing a charity that involves an historic estate. I ask them to describe it. In the description they both agree there is something very special about the estate. People love to visit there during times of national or personal turmoil.
“It’s a peaceful place. It’s as if it is haunted by good angels,” they say.
For a while they go on and describe some of the experiences they have had and some of the people attached to the place, including the eccentric woman who lived there all her life. She left the estate to the foundation with an endowment to maintain it.
I ask if they have heard of “thin places.”
“They say there are places on earth where the distance between heaven and earth, the spiritual and the material, are thin,” I explain.
They nod in agreement.
“This would be a thin place,” they agree.
This launched a lively exchange. They eagerly ask questions and tell stories. I answer the questions and tell a few stories of my own.
A fruit dish is served. We pour more coffee.
I tell them that I am a Christian writer and speaker and I explain to them how to understand the spirit-world according to the Bible. They listen, cups mid-air. Time moves quickly in the lively exchange about ultimate and eternal things.
Suddenly they realize what time it is. They are going to be late for their symposium.
“O, we’ve got to go. It was so good to meet you, so interesting to talk,” they say.
After a satisfying give-and-take they ask for my business card. I give them my name.
“Google it. I’m all over the ‘net. I’ve written over a thousand pieces that are archived on my site. You can read the stories, watch the videos, and listen to the podcasts.”
That is what it looks like. My travels took me to a small mid-western town where two ladies, who were fascinated by spiritual things, now have a little clearer understanding of the world according to the truth of God.
When I returned to the room Lois was ready. We checked out and found a little bakery downtown where we could enjoy some coffee and fresh-baked pastries and Lois could enjoy her breakfast from a bit more comfortable social distance.
But for a while the place was thin. We live Coram Deo—In the presence of God. All places are thin. We just aren’t always aware of it. In lively conversation with strangers over breakfast we can sometimes thin the distance between heaven and earth.
Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
March 25, 2017
