Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monkey and dogs.
Welcome to day 13 of Towards the Light,
An Advent Journey.
And today we're going to think about the act of creating sacred space.
Have you ever noticed how the simple act of setting something apart can change its meaning?
A cleared table becomes a space and place for gathering.
A quiet corner,
When set up in a different way,
Can become a sanctuary for rest,
Prayer and reflection.
The difference between something that is sacred and something that is profane comes down to one simple thing,
Intentionality.
Sacred space isn't so much about the space itself,
It's about the intention we bring to that space.
In Exodus 3,
We read of the beautiful encounter that Moses first has with Yahweh,
God.
And in Exodus 3.
5,
God says to Moses,
Take off your sandals,
For the place where you are standing is holy ground.
Now the ground wasn't extraordinary on its own.
But it became holy because God was present and Moses was paying attention.
In the same way,
When we create sacred space,
We invite God's presence into the everyday,
Transforming the ordinary into something deeply meaningful.
But here's the thing,
God was there all along.
What changed is our mindfulness of that presence and the intention we brought into that encounter with the divine in that moment and in that place.
Thomas Merton once wrote,
There is no greater disaster in the spiritual life than to be immersed in unreality.
What sacred space does is it pulls us out of the distractions and noise of life and grounds us in what is real,
God's love,
God's grace,
And God's truth.
This space doesn't need to be elaborate.
It doesn't need to be perfect.
It just needs to be intentional.
And it can be a chair by the window,
A walk in the park,
A few moments of stillness in the car before you get out and head into your day,
Or even the commute on the train.
Jesus also spoke of creating space in Matthew chapter six in the Sermon on the Mount again,
Where in speaking of prayer,
He says this in verse six,
When you pray,
Go into your room,
Close the door and pray to God who is unseen.
The sacred space isn't about by being seen by other people.
Sacred space is about making a place and moment to connect with the one who sees you fully and loves you completely.
So I wonder,
Where in your life could you carve out space for God?
What might shift if you allowed that space,
That moment in time,
That place to become a holy meeting place between you and God for the remainder of this Advent season?
As you go about the day today,
May you find God's presence in both the expected,
But especially in the unexpected places.
May your heart become a sanctuary,
Ready to welcome the sacred wherever you happen to notice it.
May even the quietest of your moments remind you of God's deep and abiding love.
And may you discover that holy ground is as near as your next breath.
A little bit of an Advent challenge.
I wonder if for the remainder of Advent,
You can choose a spot to be your sacred space and that you'd spend five,
Maybe even 10 minutes there every day,
Intentionally inviting God to meet with you.
You don't have to say anything and God may say nothing to you,
But just be in that moment with the divine presence and let that space and the time that you set apart remind you that God is always present,
No matter where we are,
Whatever time,
Whatever place,
But it simply quietly waits to meet you with grace and peace.
Amen.
Go in love into your day,
My friends.
We'll see you tomorrow.
Bye for now.
