A Meditation by the Rev. Peter Munson, Interim Rector

Those “Thin” Places

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. ²Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:1-4)

⁵For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your morale and the firmness of your faith in Christ. ⁶As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:5-7)

Those “Thin” Places

^{The first reading above is part of the Gospel lesson from the Daily Office for this coming Monday, April 22. The second reading above is part of one of the readings for today, April 17.}

^{Monday, April 22, is Earth Day. For me and my family and friends, we will also remember it as the second anniversary of Julia’s death. This coming Saturday, my children and their partners and Zach and Hannah’s godparents and their children and grandchildren will join me as we remember Julia and scatter the last of Julia’s ashes in a pond in Arvada that is just two blocks from the house where we raised our children. It is the pond that Julia and I walked around thousands of times, a pond in which Zach caught bass, a pond where some of Julia’s mom’s ashes are scattered, a pond on which we canoed and kayaked with the God-family. Near the pond is a neighborhood swimming pool where Zach and Hannah competed for the local swim team when they were in elementary school. It is also the pond next to which we took plenty of prom photos of Zach and Hannah and their dates, along with their friends and their friends’ dates. It is the pond where our daughter-in-law, Jordan, took special photos of Julia and me - just a few days after Christmas in 2021 - in what would be Julia’s last Christmas. In other words, many beautiful memories come up for my children and me when we revisit “the Pond.”}

^{I have learned so much about grieving and mourning over the past two years. As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, my grieving for Julia won’t ever end. It has ebbed from where it was two years ago, but I will never be “done” with my grief. There is a big hole in my heart since Julia died, and I have heard my children say the same is true for them. Mine is the grief of losing a spouse of almost 35 years; theirs is the grief of losing their mom. Julia’s father and siblings and close friends have all had their own grief journeys.}

^{“Blessed are the poor in spirit.”}

^{“Blessed are those who mourn.”}

^{I have heard and prayed Jesus’ words from the Beatitudes in new and deeper ways over the past two years. There are many days I have been poor in spirit, and known nagging emptiness and of my deep need for God. Pretty much every day I have been mourning. Some days - many days, in fact - I have felt God’s comfort and God’s peace, which is all wrapped in and around God’s presence and also a sense of Julia’s presence.}

^{I could write for a very long time about how I have experienced Julia’s presence in different kinds of visits over the past two years… from red-tailed hawks in Colorado and also some great-horned owls in Park City… in songs that I have heard and continue to hear at just the right time… as God brings to mind Julia’s unique laugh or her busting a dance move in our kitchen… in pieces of wisdom that I learned from Julia, whether that was from something she said to me directly or in a class that she taught. I have experienced Julia’s presence in my children and in her friends and clients who love her, and who have passed on to me the things that Julia said to them and what she meant to them. For me, these have all been what our Celtic Christian brothers and sisters call “thin places” - places where the distance between heaven and earth basically disappears… places where both God and Julia feel very close, as in right here, right now, Holy Cow and thanks be to God!}

On Wednesday, as I read again what Paul - or a student of Paul - wrote to the Colossians in chapters 1 and 2… when I read beautiful words like “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for in him all things in heaven and earth were created, things visible and invisible” (Colossians 1:15-16a)… things like “for in him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Colossians 1:19)… things like “the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27b)… something hit me as I kept reading.

When I read, “For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your morale and the firmness of your faith in Christ” - from Colossians 2:5 - I suddenly heard Julia saying these words to me. It was very personal and very powerful. I again felt Julia’s presence, Julia’s love - her encouragement, her words, her energy. [This is one of the many reasons why we need to read Scripture, my friends - because something happens and the Word of God is suddenly very alive and very real, in the sense of Christ being revealed and being right with us and even in us. It is a Spirit-driven and deeply mysterious thing that can happen and does happen!]

And so - while I mourn - I am comforted, and I am blessed. While Julia is absent in the body, I am given these moments where she is very much with me in spirit - in spirit but also, make no mistake, in Spirit. And I don’t know what else to do in these moments but say to God… and to Julia - have I mentioned that these days, I often pray to God and to Julia simultaneously? - “Thank you! I love you! Thank you! I love you!”

And the other thing I do, because God has called me to do it, is that I pass on these Scriptures and my thoughts on them to you. My prayer is that you might find solace in them and strength for your own journey with Christ.