“Keep close to nature’s heart…and break clear away, once in a while, climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” –John Muir
Last week my family and I spent the week at family camp in the Santa Cruz mountains.
Established in 1906, Mount Hermon retreat center has been a special place for me for nearly 40 years. The youth camps I attended there served as a refuge from the turbulent storms of my adolescence and are some of the best memories of my childhood.
When driving onto the campus, watching the sunlight stream in through the ancient redwood trees and gently rustling aspen, I have a sense that I have entered a sacred place. I cannot help but feel a deep sense of peace that seems to offer an invitation to step back from life and reflect on the journey—both behind and ahead.
There was no television, no wi-fi, no distraction.
The daily program consists of morning and evening sessions for adults while the kids attend an epic day camp where all the counselors go by funny nicknames and serve as incredible role models of the youth years done right.
In the afternoons, we were able to sign up for family activities such as the ropes course, climbing wall, sailing, biking, or hiking. There were also some particularly good workshops on how to keep influence in your kids lives during the teenage years. On Wednesdays, everyone rides an open-air train through the forest to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, where we rode roller coasters all day in the ocean air. These trains were built in 1890.
The term “thin places” may have first been used more than 1500 years ago by the Celts to describe locations where the veil between earthly and spiritual realms seemed thinner. Places that fostered a deeper sense of connection to the divine along with peace, healing, and a new perspective—these were wild spaces.
Some examples of places commonly referred to as thin places are Saint Peters Basilica in the Vatican, the Blue Mosque of Turkey, or the Isles of Iona in Scotland.
For many people, Mount Hermon is such a place, a thin place. The towering majesty of the redwoods must have something to do with it. After all, redwood trees can live to be 2200 years old and grow to nearly 400 feet tall.
One of my mentors was fond of saying, “Perhaps when you go up to the mountain, the reception is just better up there.” I love that.
Each morning I would grab my journal and a cup of coffee and stare at the huge trees, my thoughts streaming out on paper.
On the last night in the outdoor amphitheater, we heard from people who had lost children, college students grappling with terminal cancer, firefighters nearly burned to death, or single parents with autistic children who felt Mount Hermon was the only place their child had ever felt welcomed. People shared that they came to camp running on empty and left with a tank full of hope.
I concluded the week feeling inspired to stretch as a husband and father, to ruthlessly prioritize the things in life that are supremely important, and to consider a bigger vision that would include future generations.
Going to thin places significantly increases the likelihood that I will think such thoughts or take new subsequent action.
But we must calendar those spaces.
As I write this, my aunt just left our house this morning on a 22-day silent retreat on the Lost Coast. Now that is a wild space.
Author Henri Nouwen was fond of saying that the cultivation of silent spaces was a spiritual discipline, without which, we lose access or ability to hear the voice of God.
In the modern world, those spaces can be hard to find or prioritize.
A vital discipline for any leader is the personal leadership practice of creating such spaces in the calendar. Only in this way, a person can be frequently challenged and take more conscious action.
Take action now
This weekend, grab your journal and consider the following questions:
- Where are my thin places?
- What have thin places created for me in the past?
- What nagging issue or deep longing have I been ignoring?
- When will I go to my thin place?
Have a great weekend!
Parker
More resources
- New York Times Article, Where Heaven and Earth Come Closer
- Thin Places article in Psychology Today
- Mount Hermon Camps
