Saturday, June 04, 2005

Today's Meditation: Finding a sanctuary
Meditation time today focused on readings from Gordon MacDonald's
Renewing Your Spiritual Passion. I identify with his statement that, particularly as Christians,

we are headed toward an epidemic of fatigue andweariness that never has been
seen before.....The believing community has
never been so busy, never had so
many voices to listen to,
never had so many choices to make, never so many ways
to respond. That, I believe, explains why we are facing the potential of a
wholesale exhaustion of the spirit.

I have been drawn to the idea of creating a sacred space, a sanctuary,
a hospitable place, both for myself and for others. This turns out
to be one of MacDonald's suggestions for replenishment and
renewal. The "soccer mom"
lifestyle I see in my church exhausts me
just to watch! His advice to find
safe spaces for spiritual rest, even
if for seconds at a time only, rings
true with me.
My illness has forced me to turn from a human DOING into
a human BEING. Some days the fatigue is so overwhelming that
I can do nothing else but BE. Even so, I feel the need to seek out that
sanctuary, that quiet, safe, space, and I have to seek it out because I don't
LIVE there! How much more do the busiest of us need to stop, take some deep
breaths, and regenerate?

My intention last Fall was to teach an introduction
to Meditation techniques at my church. It's odd how life interrupts us
when we're making plans, but an illness in a family member caused
me to go and be a helper to that person. Even as I was making
plans to go, friends at church told me a class in meditation
would probably only put them to sleep!
Of course it would, because we're all so sleep-deprived that any pause in the
head-long , caffeine-charged rush causes stress-drained brains and exhausted
bodies to simply shut down!

Lord, help each of us to renew ourselves by
resting in You. May we
seek out that safe place, that quiet sanctuary, that
oasis in our daily walk (or run). AMEN