Thin Places

In this season of the podcast, we’ve sharing stories about how our past looks different when we cross some kind of threshold in our lives. In this last episode, Mo. Lindsay and Fr. Carl talk about how we, as a community, might see our past differently as the Zion History Project brings us across a threshold in our identity—and how we can be guided by the wisdom shared by parishioners in our early episodes. Follow our ongoing work at zionepiscopal.org.

In this episode, we are joined by Donna Gentle Spirit Barron: the family historian of the Matinecock people. We only scratch the surface of Native history in this episode, but It’s a privilege for us to hear some of that story today—and to hear some of Donna’s own experiences as a Matinecock Indian, and as a Black woman. And it’s also a necessary challenge for us to hear about Zion as it appears in the history and stories and experiences of Matinecock people, and people of color. Because Zion looks different from this angle. We can see new facets of our history—gifts of our legacy that we have forgotten and are called to reclaim, wounds in our history that we have pushed out of mind, but are now called to heal. Healing begins by telling the truth: by listening to Donna as she knocks down the stories that leave her and her family out, and then, by telling a new story of Zion that keeps the call of justice at the center. Want to read more? You can find Donna's books here: https://bookshop.org/search?keywords=donna+barron

As you know, on this season of the podcast we’ve been sharing stories about thin places in time: stories of people who step across a threshold into a new chapter of their lives. Today we’re talking about a threshold that Zion is crossing. For the last 2 years, the Zion leadership has been grappling with the difficult discovery that our founding families enslaved people. We’ve been asking what it means that the Zion community was founded with wealth created by the forced labor of enslaved people, and that those children of God have been left out of Zion’s history for almost 200 years. Mo. Lindsay and Fr. Carl talk about how the shape of Zion's history looks different with enslavement in view, and how we might be called to tell a different story about ourselves going forward—a story that centers Jesus and his call to join him in realizing the Kingdom of God.

In this episode, we’re going to do something a little different: Fr. Carl tells a story—a story from the Bible; one of his favorites. It’s a story which is very much about being called across a threshold, and about how our ancestors in the faith had to reimagine their past, and their future, once they’d crossed it.

On this episode of the podcast, we’re going to hear from Michael—a newer member of Zion. In the early months of the pandemic, Michael stepped across a threshold: he realized that his strategies for dealing with conflict were not working—for him, or for those he loved. And he had to make a change. There's a churchy word for making a change: repentance. And that word just means "turning"—turning off the track that got us to where we are now, and striking out on a new course, seeking to live the life that really is life. It's a privilege to hear Michael reflect so vulnerably on the turns that he is making, and how that is reshaping him, and his family.

On this season of the podcast we’re sharing stories about thin places in time: stories of people who step across a threshold into a new chapter of their lives. And when they look back through that doorway, their past has a different shape than they’d thought. For Katie Dean, the threshold was…falling in love. Falling in love with a man named Ed just as Katie’s marriage of 43 years was collapsing. That marriage couldn’t survive Katie getting sober; it couldn’t be sustained after Katie got in touch with the God of her own understanding. There was Ed, with his sparkling blue eyes, and the grounded wisdom he’d gained in his own journey. And Katie was drawn forward by that love, into who she really is.

On this season of the podcast we’re sharing stories about thin places in time: stories of people who step across a threshold into a new chapter of their lives. And when they look back through that doorway, their past has a different shape than they’d thought. For Dillon Caisser, the threshold was coming out as a trans man. Coming out made it possible for Dillon to reclaim parts of himself and his history that hadn’t fit into the story before. We are so grateful to Dillon for sharing his story so candidly. Given that church has been a place of hurt for him, it takes real courage and real vulnerability to tell the whole truth about himself as part of this church community. May his story be an invitation for all of us to reflect on the mysterious ways of God in our lives, and on what parts of ourselves, or parts of our past are waiting for us to reclaim.

In this season of the Thin Places podcast, we’re gathering stories of people who step across a threshold into a new chapter of their lives. When they look back through that doorway, they find that their past looks different. They’ve stepped into a new story, and have to ask themselves what parts of their past fit in this new story. What are the gifts of their past that they want to bring along? What are some of the wounds they carry from that past, that they are now called to heal? What are identities or habits that it’s time to let go of? Today we have two stories about such “thin places” in time. Marguerite LeBron and Christina Shonfeld are both longtime members of Zion, and they each have a profound story about a moment in their lives when God showed up for them, and brought them gently across such a threshold. We'd love to hear your story of crossing a threshold in your life, and realizing that your past had a different shape than you thought. Reach out to Fr. Carl at carl.adair [at] gmail.com—sharing stories is one crucial way we grow together in faith, hope, and love.

Thin Places is back! Over the next few months, we'll turn our attention from thin places in space toward "thin places" in time. We'll hear stories of people who step across a threshold into a new chapter of their lives. When they look back across that threshold, they find that their past looks different. They've stepped into a new story: when they look back at their past, they see gifts to bring with them: pearls of great price. And they also see wounds that need to heal, and patterns and habits that don't fit anymore. We have some moving stories coming up this season—and are looking for even more stories. So if you've had an experience that transformed your perspective on your past, reach out! Sharing stories is one way that we grow together in faith and love and solidarity. As this season goes on, we'll also use these stories from our own individual lives to reflect together on the history of this parish, Zion. What are our gifts? What are the wounds that need to heal? What patterns don't fit anymore?

Thin Places is back! Over the next few months, we'll turn our attention from thin places in space, and toward “thin places'' in time. We’ll hear stories of people who step across a threshold into a new chapter of their lives. And when they look back through that doorway, they find that their past looks different. They’ve stepped into a new story, and they look back at their past they see gifts to bring with them: pearls of great price. They also see wounds that need to heal, or patterns or...

For our last episode of this "season," Mother Lindsay and Carl talk about what lessons we are learning as a Zion community amidst this challenging year. What are we learning from this podcast experiment? From worshipping together on Zoom? What do we want to carry forward? What is God calling us into as we seek to live more deeply into God's dream for us? Many, many thanks to all the people who have made this podcast possible, especially Nick Marsella, who wrote original music for it, and for DJ Cashmere, who offered invaluable production help. But thanks most of all to all those who spoke so bravely and vulnerably here—and to all who listened.

This week we speak with two people who are grieving: Regan Calmer and Sureya Addoh. Both of them speak about the Zion churchyard as a thin place in which those we've lost are present, and a thin place which invites us to maintain it through the work of care. We recorded this episode before the election, and when it's released, states might still be counting and contesting votes. This episode is full of wisdom and grace, but it also has moments that are a little heavy. Whether you listen now or save this episode for later, keep breathing, and keep praying for peace, justice, and healing in our nation.

This week, we're at the La Jornada Food Pantry in Flushing, Queens with attorney, activist, and Zion Sunday School teacher Alexis Soterakis. We talk about living our values, faith and activism, and the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us, and whose work still ripples around us.

We're back! This week we talk with Mary Beth Welsh about an experience she had with Zion's Peanut Butter and Jesus ministry at Penn Station. It's a moment that has stayed with her through the pandemic: it reminds her to ask God to help her show up as God needs her to be—to be a conduit for God's infinite compassion. Following Mary Beth's example, we practice offering ourselves to God: keeping our eyes soft, and our hands open.

This week, we talk with Rachel Shonfeld, a wise and compassionate 16-year-old. We met Rachel in Alley Pond Park, where she told us about the extra stresses that young people are facing in this time, and how God is showing up for her—in nature, in friendship, and in prayer. You can find Rachel's thin place by the pond in our developing map here. We're taking a week off to catch up on interviews, but we'll be back with a new batch of episodes on October 21st. If you've got a thin place, we want to hear about it! Message us on Facebook, or drop us a line at zionchurch11363@aol.com.

Last summer, Zion built a labyrinth in the grass on the west side of the churchyard. This labyrinth is still pretty new to us, but labyrinths have been thin places for spiritual seekers for thousands of years. This week, we talk to Merrill Tomlinson Carinci to hear about how our labyrinth came to be, and to get some guidance about how to trust the winding path and let God come close as we walk. Our labyrinth is open to anyone and everyone, anytime. We invite you to come walk it, following some of the suggestions we offer in this episode. Or, we invite you to use our short meditation as a way to place your feet upon the pilgrim's way—wherever you're standing.

In our second episode, Zion parishioner Lynn Koch teaches us how sensing God's presence in nature, and about what forests have to teach us about new growth amidst loss. Then, Mother Lindsay leads a meditation about nature's cycles and seasons. If you want to do that meditation in the exact place where we recorded our interview, you can find it on this map! Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Stitcher TuneIn (Or just ask Alexa to play the "Thin Places" podcast!) Or "like" the Zion Facebook page, and new episodes will appear right in your feed.

In our first episode, we explore the thin places right in our homes with 4 parishioners from Zion. We laugh, we reflect, we get a little misty, and Mother Lindsay offers a blessing for all our homes.