As I opened the door and stood just inside all it took was a millisecond to be filled with a sense of the holy in the space. In part because of the vast and immense beauty, in part because of my experience of transformation within its walls, and in part because of my expectation.
As a child the holy was present in my church. It was the place where I gathered with family and friends to say prayers, to celebrate important holy occasions like Christmas, Easter, baptisms, weddings and funerals. I always sought and expected the space to be holy.
At 10 years old my ‘world view’ of a holy space was wildly expanded. Towering pine trees, a glimmering lake and an open air chapel at camp pulled back my lense to an experience of the holy in new and powerful ways. My little kid brain just never imagined there were other holy spaces. Yet being in another loving, supportive community and in the midst of the beauty of God’s creation brought me to an entirely new awareness of holy spaces.
Two pieces by colleague Steve Charleston speak to me about the transformation that was taking place for me:
“Come rest here beside me, here in this small space we have found for one another,
where the chatter of an anxious world seems hushed,
and the winds of worry are tamed to a gentle breeze.
Sit quietly for a moment.
Lay your troubles aside.
They will be there when you leave.
For now feel the blessing of just being safe in a welcome ever genuine,
at peace in the company of those who know you and love you all the more for the knowing.
Come rest here beside me.
Together we will watch the clouds teach us to pray.”
“The key to the seeker’s quest is not in finding just
the right piece of holy real estate on which to stand,
but rather in so preparing his or her awareness that
any space he or she occupies can become thin
through faith.”
Through countless opportunities to gather with a variety of folks in vast and diverse places it’s clear it is not necessarily THE space but an openness to the holy in our midst. As Jesuit theologian Teilhard de Chardin wrote, “By virtue of the Creation and, still more, of the Incarnation, nothing here below is profane for those who know how to see.”
BP