I am sure we have all had the experience of visiting somewhere, only to find that there seems to be something special, something sacred about the place. It has happened to me on a number of occasions. I have visited grand cathedrals which despite their beauty have left me cold. Yet I have also entered small, insignificant, churches where I have felt that I have been standing in the presence of God.

A few years ago, Chris Peck, who was director of Lay Training in the Diocese of Liverpool (UK), set out on a journey around Britain to seek out sacred places. In his mind was a series of questions, for example: did some places have a natural sacredness of their own which was recognised by our forbears, or were places made sacred, by acts of worship over the centuries? Chris came to the conclusion that both seem to be true. Some places, like the island of Iona, seem to have a holiness of their own.

I visited Iona some nine years ago, staying at the Abbey. It was a difficult time for me, made more difficult by the fact that I did not get on at all well with the rest of the guest. The services in Iona Abbey where not to my liking and the whole thing could have been a disaster. However, releasing myself from the guests and the abbey I spent quite some time sitting outside on a rock, said to be the place where St. Columba had his cell. Here I communed with God, and it was as if heaven and earth were the same place. It was a sacred place.

As a family we have just returned from the Isle of Mann. Towards the end of the holiday we visited Peel Castle. One the two occasions I had visited the island before I had wanted to visit the site but had been thwarted; finally I got my wish.

The castle is built on St. Patrick’s Isle, an ancient site that has been used for many things throughout the years. At one time it was a Celtic Monastery and one of the original chapels still stands. Despite there being the ruins of far grander churches on the site, it was in this small space that I felt the veil between heaven and earth lifting. It was if I was at one with all my brothers and sisters who had worshipped there in the past. – Truly, for me it was a sacred space.

Creating our own Sacred Space

Sacred space is good; it is a place where we meet with God. Visiting such places is also good but it is also possible to create our own. We must remember God is omnipresent and can meet us anywhere Why not think about setting aside some place where you can meet with God on a regular basis. It need not be large; it can be the corner of a room. Place in it something like a picture or a candle on which you can focus your attention as a window into heaven. As you use your space so it becomes sanctified. It becomes the place where you and God can meet. A place that draws you into God, a place where your strength is renewed.

Dave

Time to Rebuild?

Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your panelled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.

You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.

Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD.

You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. (Haggai 1:4-9 ESV)