Last week I was watching Sportscenter, which in all honesty, I do more than study God's Word.
[This fact hit me the other day because we have moved and no longer have cable (or internet or TV for that matter), and I cared a lot more about who won what game, the status of my fantasy team, and if Jose Altidore was still continuing his tear through the English Premier League, rather than if I had spent quality time in God's word for that day.]
This made me borderline depressed with myself, which I really don't need the help with right now.
However, on that particular edition of Sportscenter, (which if you missed it, ESPN aired it again at 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1, and 2) they were interviewing Michael Vick about his return to the football field, and he described the feeling of stepping between the painted white lines as his sanctuary.
I thought about that word for a long time.
Sanctuary.
Holy.
Set apart.
For Michael Vick, a guy who I completely understand needs to escape from the world around him, the field provided this outlet. It got me thinking, where do I find my sanctuary? In all honesty, it has never been in a church. Sure, there are formal, or "professional" sanctuaries there, and sacred and holy moments occur in those places for sure, but that is where we gather corporately, it's not my personal holy place. It's not a place that I have set apart. It's been set apart for me.
I think for awhile I have been relying on other people to provide holy moments for me. I long for the holy and sacred to invade my everyday, but I don't intentionally set apart an actual space for it.
I don't have a sanctuary.
There are no painted lines that I can walk between and just breathe. Just be me. Be present. For me, it cant be our couch, or our bedroom, or the coffee shop, because while I can and have experienced the holy in those places, there is nothing set apart.
So what about you? Do you have a sanctuary? Do you feel like you need one? Do you feel the need for an actual, physical "space"?
May we all find our sanctuary, even if it is constantly changing. And may we find rest in a God who longs to invade our everyday...
1 comments:
This has gotten me thinking lots in the past week or so since you posted it. I've been trying to think of my sanctuary, and there's one that keeps coming to mind. It's water. Like when I swim in the pool and go underwater and can't hear anything but the pressure in my ears. Or when I take a bath and fully submerge with only my nose sticking out to breathe. It's the place I feel most present and calm.
Thanks for giving me lots to ponder!
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