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thin places

What do we mean by "Thin Places"?

Those places during our journey where the barrier between the mundane and the Divine becomes reduced to a gossamer thin membrane; the times when our relationship with God becomes so intimate as to be almost palpable; the closest we will get to seeing the face of God in this earthly life.

the quiet spot

Maybe my idea of quiet differs from yours but . . . . .

We believe we all have experiences of the Divine throughout our lives, some barely noticable, some spectacularly so. Differences in cultural background and beliefs, mainly as a function of our place and time of birth, cause us to interpret these experiences in various ways but there is a common feeling that they involve an unknowable presense within and around us. Through this material we hope to show that our everyday life and our spritual life are tightly bound together.

To get this ongoing effort started we have placed links to some online videos which you may find inspirational. Remember how your parents told you that Rock 'n Roll would rot your mind? Listen to a version of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" that even your mother would endorse!

What brings you to your "Thin Places"?

If your computer is fairly new and has reasonable hardware resources including a decent speaker system or headphones, you will get good results from clicking the play button on the videos below.

Please excuse the sombre mood, black seemed to be the best background to view the videos against. Over time, this will change as all things do.

embryo

Human history can be divided into three major periods in very much the same way that the development of a human embryo consists of three trimesters.

All throughout our past, we‘ve been expanding, conquering, building, destroying, restructuring, and rebuilding again as we‘ve continued evolving. Humanity continued to spread throughout the world, until finally, we conquered everything. A human fetus reaches this condition in the 38th week of its development.

For a child, the mother‘s womb is the most comfortable place to be, and yet, this stage of development is merely an intermediate stage. The goal is to be born, and it is therefore impossible to remain inside of the mother‘s womb. During delivery, a mother‘s body produces an enormous amount of adrenalin in order to help the child be born, since the process of delivery is quite difficult and painful for the child.

Similarly, we as humankind have reached a peak stage in our development, and we cannot continue existing according to the principles we previously designed. Even though we have no idea what to do next, this doesn‘t mean that there is no general plan for our development. Nature operates its own program that impacts us, forcing us to be born through crises, disasters, epidemics, and wars. After this birth, the child continues to develop, attaining a totally different world outside of the womb.

We too need to finally attain the goal of our creation. How do we do this?

stairway to heaven

Stairway to Heaven has been analyzed ever since it was first performed by Led Zeppelin in 1972 and many think they hear evil in it somewhere. Most people, myself included, feel it is simply a denunciation of the arrogance of wealth and that is the spirit in which it is presented here.

First, the music composed by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page . . .

. . . and the lyrics by Robert Plant who has been quoted as saying that he wrote words down as they came to him, from where he doesn't know . . . . he completed the lyrics in 20 minutes.

* * *

There‘s a lady who‘s sure all that glitters is gold, and she‘s buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows if the stores are all closed, with a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and she‘s buying a stairway to heaven.

There‘s a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure, ‘cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook there‘s a songbird who sings, sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder, ooh, it makes me wonder.

There‘s a feeling I get when I look to the west, and my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees, and the voices of those who stand looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder, ooh, it really makes me wonder.

And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune, then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long, and the forests will echo with laughter.

If there‘s a bustle in your hedgerow dont be alarmed now, it's just a spring clean for the may queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by but in the long run there‘s still time to change the road you‘re on.
And it makes me wonder.

Your head is humming and it won‘t go in case you don‘t know, the piper‘s calling you to join him.
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow and did you know, your stairway lies on the whispering wind.

And as we wind on down the road our shadows taller than our soul, there walks a lady we all know who shines white light and wants to show how everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard the tune will come to you at last, when all are one and one is all to be a rock and not to roll.

And she‘s buying a stairway to heaven.

playing for change

Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend our differences and unite us as one human race.

"Stand By Me" was written by Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Ben E. King in 1961.

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