Readings 24 January 2025 St Anne's Church, Glenholt - Sacred Spaces
Welcome, and opening prayer
Opening Prayer May all that is unforgiven in you, Be released. May your fears yield Their deepest tranquillities. May all that is unlived in you, Blossom into a future, Graced with love. Amen O'Donohue, John. Benedictus: A Book Of (p. 104). Transworld. Kindle Edition. Readings For me sacred places are everywhere - outside us and inside us, in our hearts, and places we don’t know about – perhaps in different dimensions. What is your sacred place? I would like to think we hold a sacred space here – not because this is a church, but because of our hearts – a Christ-centered space. My sacred place is definitely with you in the spaces we create – either here, St Mary’s or Roborough Methodists. It is also within me – in my head and in my heart. And in the outside world it is mountains. I cannot explain my feelings when I am in the mountains but it is truly sacred and something bigger than we are. |
Judy’s Experience What happened next, is quite hard to tell, as I don’t remember ‘why’ it happened … only that it did happen …
In mid-sentence I suddenly grabbed Eleanor’s arm, gasping, and saying, “I feel as if I’ve come home” … and then burst into tears ….
My vicar was rather worried, and said, ‘well you know where you are, don’t you?’ (I didn’t, of course) and he pointed across an enormous piazza towards a wall in the distance …. Where I saw consciously for the first time, The Western … or Wailing Wall. I cried again … and was promised that we would visit the Wall again a couple of days later
Hilltops: Summits of Vision What is it that draws us to the tops of hills and mountains? How can we explain that special thrill of touching the stones of the summit cairn? Whether our aspirations roam the Alps or Himalayas, or are content merely with the humble hillsides of our neighbourhood, there is something powerfully attractive about the top of a hill. Not surprisingly, hilltops are significant landmarks in our human search to connect to the divine. I have spent many weeks of my life walking the hills of my homeland. When I reflect on these wanderings, I see, in my mind's eye, apparently interminable strings of summits, linked by ridges and plateaux, and separated by valleys and clefts. Whenever a summit is reached, there always seems to be another, higher one, just out of reach, demanding another burst of energy to reach it.
And this is a helpful picture, too, of how our 'spiritual journey' often looks. There are moments of vision, making the climbing worthwhile, but wherever we stand still to take stock, there is always something more beyond our range, drawing us onward, attracting us in spite of the rocky journey that seems to separate us from our hearts' desire. So many stories from ancient spiritual writings and traditions, including those of Celtic times, speak of hilltops as sacred space. Hilltops are as close as we get to heaven, perhaps, and a potent reminder of our deep longings to reach out towards what is utterly beyond ourselves. They also afford a view - a fresh perspective of the land from which we have come - and new insights into the journey that still lies ahead.
Margaret Silf, Sacred Spaces: Stations on a Celtic Way 1st Edition, Kindle Edition
Liminal Space We keep praying that our illusions will fall away. God erodes them from many sides, hoping they will fall. But we often remain trapped in what we call normalcy—“the way things are.” Life then revolves around problem-solving, fixing, explaining, and taking sides with winners and losers. It can be a pretty circular and even nonsensical existence.
To get out of this repetitive cycle, we have to allow ourselves to be drawn into sacred space, into liminality. All transformation takes place here. There alone is our old world left behind, though we’re not yet sure of the new existence. That’s a good space where genuine newness can begin. We must get there often and stay as long as we can by whatever means possible. It’s the realm where God can best get at us because our false certitudes are finally out of the way. This is the sacred space where the old world is able to fall apart, and a bigger world is revealed. If we don’t encounter liminal space in our lives, we start idealizing normalcy. The threshold is God’s waiting room. Here we are taught openness and patience as we come to expect an appointment with the Divine Doctor.
Richard Rohr, https://cac.org/daily-meditations/liminal-space/
Introduction to Silence
Blessing
For presence
Awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.
Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.
Receive encouragement when new frontiers beckon.
Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to follow its path.
Let the flame of anger free you of all falsity.
May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame.
May anxiety never linger about you.
May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul.
Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.
Be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.
O'Donohue, John. Benedictus: A Book Of Blessings (p. 55). Transworld. Kindle Edition.
In mid-sentence I suddenly grabbed Eleanor’s arm, gasping, and saying, “I feel as if I’ve come home” … and then burst into tears ….
My vicar was rather worried, and said, ‘well you know where you are, don’t you?’ (I didn’t, of course) and he pointed across an enormous piazza towards a wall in the distance …. Where I saw consciously for the first time, The Western … or Wailing Wall. I cried again … and was promised that we would visit the Wall again a couple of days later
Hilltops: Summits of Vision What is it that draws us to the tops of hills and mountains? How can we explain that special thrill of touching the stones of the summit cairn? Whether our aspirations roam the Alps or Himalayas, or are content merely with the humble hillsides of our neighbourhood, there is something powerfully attractive about the top of a hill. Not surprisingly, hilltops are significant landmarks in our human search to connect to the divine. I have spent many weeks of my life walking the hills of my homeland. When I reflect on these wanderings, I see, in my mind's eye, apparently interminable strings of summits, linked by ridges and plateaux, and separated by valleys and clefts. Whenever a summit is reached, there always seems to be another, higher one, just out of reach, demanding another burst of energy to reach it.
And this is a helpful picture, too, of how our 'spiritual journey' often looks. There are moments of vision, making the climbing worthwhile, but wherever we stand still to take stock, there is always something more beyond our range, drawing us onward, attracting us in spite of the rocky journey that seems to separate us from our hearts' desire. So many stories from ancient spiritual writings and traditions, including those of Celtic times, speak of hilltops as sacred space. Hilltops are as close as we get to heaven, perhaps, and a potent reminder of our deep longings to reach out towards what is utterly beyond ourselves. They also afford a view - a fresh perspective of the land from which we have come - and new insights into the journey that still lies ahead.
Margaret Silf, Sacred Spaces: Stations on a Celtic Way 1st Edition, Kindle Edition
Liminal Space We keep praying that our illusions will fall away. God erodes them from many sides, hoping they will fall. But we often remain trapped in what we call normalcy—“the way things are.” Life then revolves around problem-solving, fixing, explaining, and taking sides with winners and losers. It can be a pretty circular and even nonsensical existence.
To get out of this repetitive cycle, we have to allow ourselves to be drawn into sacred space, into liminality. All transformation takes place here. There alone is our old world left behind, though we’re not yet sure of the new existence. That’s a good space where genuine newness can begin. We must get there often and stay as long as we can by whatever means possible. It’s the realm where God can best get at us because our false certitudes are finally out of the way. This is the sacred space where the old world is able to fall apart, and a bigger world is revealed. If we don’t encounter liminal space in our lives, we start idealizing normalcy. The threshold is God’s waiting room. Here we are taught openness and patience as we come to expect an appointment with the Divine Doctor.
Richard Rohr, https://cac.org/daily-meditations/liminal-space/
Introduction to Silence
Blessing
For presence
Awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.
Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.
Receive encouragement when new frontiers beckon.
Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to follow its path.
Let the flame of anger free you of all falsity.
May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame.
May anxiety never linger about you.
May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul.
Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.
Be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.
O'Donohue, John. Benedictus: A Book Of Blessings (p. 55). Transworld. Kindle Edition.
Thoughts To Ponder
BIBLE VERSES
1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Matthew 27 51:54 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
Matthew 17:1-8 The Transfiguration. After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. ”While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
1 Kings 19:11-13 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Sleeping in Sacred Space
Cherokee descendent and theologian Randy Woodley describes the sacred power of giving oneself over to nature in the vulnerability of sleep: Sleeping in the bosom of nature is not the same as sleeping in the safety of one’s own home. Not at all. As you lay your body down to become one with the Earth, reality shifts. In that state, you can sense that God, Creator, is listening to the intentions of your heart. Whatever the mysterious power is behind creation, it softens one’s mind. Great Mystery unscrews the tight lids of the jars of certainty that you hold too tightly, too fiercely. You realize, sometimes even trembling, that something greater than yourself is meeting you.
Richard Rohr, https://cac.org/daily-meditations/sacred-space-2-weekly-summary-and-contemplative-practice/
Walking Blessing
“Walking Blessing” © Jan L. Richardson from In Wisdom’s Path: Discovering the Sacred in Every Season.
Orienting Toward the Sacred
It’s a matter of purposely looking through the lens of love. Contemporary wise woman Anne Lamott says that “sometimes Heaven is just a new pair of glasses.” You know what it looks like when you wipe a lens clean of smears and dust. And you also know how it feels to bump into the furniture when your vision is fuzzy. When you say yes to cultivating a mystical gaze, the ordinary world becomes more luminous, imbued with flashes of beauty and moments of meaning. The universe responds to your willingness to behold the holy by revealing almost everything as holy. A plate of rice and beans, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, your new baby, the latest political scoundrel, the scary diagnosis, the restless nights.
Richard Rohr, https://cac.org/daily-meditations/orienting-toward-the-sacred/
Gandhi stated “There is an indefinable, mysterious power that pervades everything. I feel it, though I do not see it. It is this unseen power that makes itself felt and yet defies all proof, because it is so unlike all that I perceive through my senses. It transcends the senses”… We become very small, yet we gain connection and become part of something larger than we can perceive.
The Christ Child Within
Where is God? God is where we are weak, vulnerable, small, and dependent. God is where the poor are, the hungry, the handicapped, the mentally ill, the elderly, the powerless. How can we come to know God when our focus is elsewhere, on success, influence, and power? I increasingly believe that our faithfulness will depend on our willingness to go where there is brokenness, loneliness, and human need. . . . Each one of us is very seriously searching to live and grow in this belief, and by friendship we can support each other. I realize that the only way for us to stay well in the midst of the many “worlds” is to stay close to the small, vulnerable child that lives in our hearts and in every other human being. Often we do not know that the Christ child is within us. When we discover him we can truly rejoice.
Henri Nouwen
Making Room to Welcome Friends
Henri Nouwen, https://henrinouwen.org/meditations/making-room-to-welcome-friends/
Fire, by Judy Brown:
What makes a fire burn
is space between the logs,
a breathing space.
Too much of a good thing,
too many log
packed in too tight
can douse the flame
almost as surely
as a pail of water would.
So building fires requires attention
to the spaces in between…
…A fire
grows
simply because the space is there,
with openings
in which the flame
that knows just how it wants to burn
can find its way
Brown, J. S. (2000). Fire. In The Sea Accepts All Rivers & Other Poems (pp. 34-35). Alexandria, VA: Miles River Press.
What makes us human is not our mind, BUT OUR HEART,
Not our ability to think but our ability TO LOVE
Henri Nouwen, https://henrinouwen.org/read/finding-our-sacred-center/
“If you always think what you always thought, you will always do what you always did, and you will always get what you always got.” Einstein said much the same thing: “You will never solve a problem with the mindset that created it.” Only a new mind and a new heart will move us forward—which, as it turns out, is exactly what God has offered us!
Silf, Margaret. Compass Points: Meeting God Every Day at Every Turn (p. 217). Loyola Press. Kindle Edition.
Margaret Silf writes
Silf, Margaret. Sacred Spaces: Stations on a Celtic Way (pp. 11-12). SPCK. Kindle Edition.
Our next meeting will be 10.30am on Friday 28 February at Roborough Methodist Church
BIBLE VERSES
1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Matthew 27 51:54 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
Matthew 17:1-8 The Transfiguration. After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. ”While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
1 Kings 19:11-13 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Sleeping in Sacred Space
Cherokee descendent and theologian Randy Woodley describes the sacred power of giving oneself over to nature in the vulnerability of sleep: Sleeping in the bosom of nature is not the same as sleeping in the safety of one’s own home. Not at all. As you lay your body down to become one with the Earth, reality shifts. In that state, you can sense that God, Creator, is listening to the intentions of your heart. Whatever the mysterious power is behind creation, it softens one’s mind. Great Mystery unscrews the tight lids of the jars of certainty that you hold too tightly, too fiercely. You realize, sometimes even trembling, that something greater than yourself is meeting you.
Richard Rohr, https://cac.org/daily-meditations/sacred-space-2-weekly-summary-and-contemplative-practice/
Walking Blessing
“Walking Blessing” © Jan L. Richardson from In Wisdom’s Path: Discovering the Sacred in Every Season.
Orienting Toward the Sacred
It’s a matter of purposely looking through the lens of love. Contemporary wise woman Anne Lamott says that “sometimes Heaven is just a new pair of glasses.” You know what it looks like when you wipe a lens clean of smears and dust. And you also know how it feels to bump into the furniture when your vision is fuzzy. When you say yes to cultivating a mystical gaze, the ordinary world becomes more luminous, imbued with flashes of beauty and moments of meaning. The universe responds to your willingness to behold the holy by revealing almost everything as holy. A plate of rice and beans, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, your new baby, the latest political scoundrel, the scary diagnosis, the restless nights.
Richard Rohr, https://cac.org/daily-meditations/orienting-toward-the-sacred/
Gandhi stated “There is an indefinable, mysterious power that pervades everything. I feel it, though I do not see it. It is this unseen power that makes itself felt and yet defies all proof, because it is so unlike all that I perceive through my senses. It transcends the senses”… We become very small, yet we gain connection and become part of something larger than we can perceive.
The Christ Child Within
Where is God? God is where we are weak, vulnerable, small, and dependent. God is where the poor are, the hungry, the handicapped, the mentally ill, the elderly, the powerless. How can we come to know God when our focus is elsewhere, on success, influence, and power? I increasingly believe that our faithfulness will depend on our willingness to go where there is brokenness, loneliness, and human need. . . . Each one of us is very seriously searching to live and grow in this belief, and by friendship we can support each other. I realize that the only way for us to stay well in the midst of the many “worlds” is to stay close to the small, vulnerable child that lives in our hearts and in every other human being. Often we do not know that the Christ child is within us. When we discover him we can truly rejoice.
Henri Nouwen
Making Room to Welcome Friends
Henri Nouwen, https://henrinouwen.org/meditations/making-room-to-welcome-friends/
Fire, by Judy Brown:
What makes a fire burn
is space between the logs,
a breathing space.
Too much of a good thing,
too many log
packed in too tight
can douse the flame
almost as surely
as a pail of water would.
So building fires requires attention
to the spaces in between…
…A fire
grows
simply because the space is there,
with openings
in which the flame
that knows just how it wants to burn
can find its way
Brown, J. S. (2000). Fire. In The Sea Accepts All Rivers & Other Poems (pp. 34-35). Alexandria, VA: Miles River Press.
What makes us human is not our mind, BUT OUR HEART,
Not our ability to think but our ability TO LOVE
Henri Nouwen, https://henrinouwen.org/read/finding-our-sacred-center/
“If you always think what you always thought, you will always do what you always did, and you will always get what you always got.” Einstein said much the same thing: “You will never solve a problem with the mindset that created it.” Only a new mind and a new heart will move us forward—which, as it turns out, is exactly what God has offered us!
Silf, Margaret. Compass Points: Meeting God Every Day at Every Turn (p. 217). Loyola Press. Kindle Edition.
Margaret Silf writes
Silf, Margaret. Sacred Spaces: Stations on a Celtic Way (pp. 11-12). SPCK. Kindle Edition.
Our next meeting will be 10.30am on Friday 28 February at Roborough Methodist Church