Thin Places Review
Jean Travis-Odefey, Armchair Interviews
September 6, 2005

A thought pops into your head seemingly from nowhere and you wonder, "Could this be a thought from God or is my deceased father sending me a message?" You view a sunset and get goose bumps at the majesty of it. A stranger appears in your life with a message that profoundly changes how you think about a major life decision. You let the moments pass and tell no one except possibly a close, trusted friend. Deep down you suspect you've had a brush with God.

Mary Treacy O'Keefe validates your suspicions in her new book, Thin Places: Where Faith is Affirmed and Hope Dwells, a book that combines her personal and professional experiences coping with life-threatening illness and death. Mary believes these thoughts, occurrences and feelings "from nowhere," these "aha" moments, are real and in line with the way God communicates with us "constantly sending messages of guidance, inspiration, comfort, love and hope."

Mary calls these experiences thin place moments, "those times where we feel a sudden connection with God and signs of the divine become real." Thin place connections may come in a myriad of ways, in an intuitive feeling, a healing touch, a coincidence or a ritual. However they come, these brief glimpses into the spiritual realm give us hope for something "wondrous" beyond earthly life.

Mary wrote Thin Places as a gift for her siblings after the family experienced the deaths of their parents within three months of each other. In the process of writing the book, she realized its importance for a larger audience. Thin Places takes the sting out of death. It helps the reader gently approach a topic many people want to avoid. While you might prefer to select a light novel over a book about how one family handled death, you will find this book extremely helpful as you struggle in quiet moments with spiritual questions.

Thin Places is an intensely personal testimony of life lived daily practicing one's faith. As such it is authentic, sacred and irrefutable. As you read Mary's account of events surrounding her parents' deaths, memories will surface that you may now recognize as thin place moments. You might even be empowered to believe your own experiences are real and relatable to others. Without a doubt you will be moved by Mary's "truth" told with love so achingly tender that one cannot help but want the same kind of grace, understanding and courage when faced with similar circumstances.

Mary's faith foundation is Catholic and she has the good luck to be Irish on top of that which means the reader gets to experience gems from the Catholic faith as well as Irish beliefs and tradition. Nevertheless, she welcomes those with other views and believes "thin places are moments of grace - gifts freely given to us by a God who loves us all."

Find a comfy chair, curl up with Thin Places and experience the love and warmth of Mary's observations at her time of personal loss. You'll get to see first hand how her parents' strong faith and love for each other forms Mary and her nine siblings into a strong and close family. You'll want to adopt her father's advice to "keep the faith and the faith will keep you" or his practice of "praying for the grace of a happy death." You may recognize some of your own mother's traits as Mary describes how her mother quietly cared for others. In any case, you'll wish you had met her parents as Mary reflects on the events surrounding their deaths and recalls memories of their extraordinary lives.

Thin Places is sprinkled with quotes and poems from a variety of sources as well as Bible passages and personal stories from family and friends. You'll want to keep this book as a resource on your bookshelf and refer to it when you need a dose of hope and assurance or when you need just the right words to comfort someone else. Anyone facing the immediate loss of a loved one will find Mary's insights helpful through the days and months surrounding this transition.

Mary is co-founder and executive director of Well Within, a non-profit holistic wellness center in West St. Paul, Minnesota, where she also provides spiritual direction and a variety of workshops. By sharing her personal experience and faith in Thin Places, Mary has significantly expanded her care for others. Read Thin Places, reread it and give it to others. Then slow down, listen to the voice within, actually see the world around you, and wait for thin place moments.