A Sacred Place
“So many challenges and confrontations have come at me this week” said a young pastor as she sat down in the Eremos glider. “I can’t see what I am needing to do or where I am going” said another. And “We just don’t have the funds to keep our Nonprofit going” said a member of a board of directors with tears in her eyes. And still another looked down in shame and said “the fear I have around my studies has broken my covenant with God”. So many stories this week of confusion, loss of centeredness, and of anxiety have broken my heart as I listened.
“Come away to a solitary place and rest awhile” was the invitation of Jesus to disciples worn out from their lives of service. Come sit down and be fed was his gift and continues to echo in the heart of Eremos as we strive to be of service to people yearning for ‘something more’.
I find myself asking people “Where do you find your sacred space which helps you remember who you are? Where does your soul find tenderness, compassion, rest as you regain and reclaim your authentic center?”
People listen deep within themselves in an authentic attempt to provide an answer that can’t be manufactured. I chuckle with one response of “in my bathtub”. I smile as one person beams and says “outside walking the Greenbelt”. I nod my head when another says “in the chapel of my room”. Joy rises up within me knowing each person has a sacred place, but just needed someone else to remind them of their wisdom. As you can imagine, the ‘Spirit’s direction’ is come away to that sacred place!
When we lose our sense of centeredness, we get caught up in the chaos of life and become part of the chaos. This does not help us become the ground our world of family, friends, companions and our country needs right now. We need people who know their sacred place but even more, we need people who will dwell there.
As March invites us into the season of Lent, my invitation to each of us is to rest in our own Sacred Place. Allow the Sacred One to be tender, compassionate, and loving. From that Center, we can feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, comfort the lost.
“Come away and rest awhile.” Then you will have the centeredness to support others.
