So close and so far.
Standing there,
I breathe deep.

The smooth bark caresses my feet,
Beginning my upward climb.
Daring to reach for one more branch
One foot after another.

Leaves rustle together,
Birds sing their sweet songs
of yesterday.
The voice... [more]

While allowing my mind to savor and roam through the idea of “Sacred Space,” several memories formed almost simultaneously.  So much for roaming. . .

St. Meinrad Seminary.  The first memory took place at St. Meinrad Catholic Seminary/Monastery in Southern Indiana.  My good friend Joseph, who had... [more]

When I hear the words sacred space, I think of a place I have visited almost every day for fifteen years.  Some days, I stay only for a few minutes and others for an hour or more.  While there, I sit in the warmth of God’s comforting presence while something... [more]

Sacred space is where grace abounds
Where love triumphs over apathy
Where compassion melts a hardened heart
Where the prayers of a small child meet a tender God.

She was five when she plunked herself in front of the piano and proceeded to play Fur Elise…flawlessly.  In contrast to... [more]

Recognition of sacred space depends on my ability to see it:  to be open to it, aware of it, and be present with it.  Yes, I can name the ocean, the mountains, the many places where I have experienced the Sacred in nature, had a deep spiritual experience, or been... [more]

In the summer before my senior year in high school, a friend of mine brought her Bible out and we read it together on the grass strip in front of her house. That was the first time I had read a Bible.

After that, I got a Bible and... [more]

“I am haunted by waters.”  Like a song, the last refrain of the movie A River Runs Through It pulled at my heartstrings and released a flood of tears and buried longing.  Surprised by my response, I realized that I ached for the rivers of my youth.

I was... [more]

Under a gray sky shaped like God’s hand
A sea shore gentle and fresh
Bright light from heaven shining through the sleeves
On precious kindred dear

Leaving tumult behind
A place of rest, rebirth and renewal
Of new-found realization that life’s journey need not be frozen in time
Abiding... [more]

When I was in grade school, West 37th Avenue came to an abrupt end.  There was a steel guardrail to mark the limits of civilization.  Beyond the pavement, the ground was covered with weeds and tall grass.  A path, curving like a question mark, slipped past the authority of the... [more]

Labyrinths have always been sacred space to me, whether I’m walking the path in silence or to quiet music, alone or with fellow travelers, seeking an answer to a challenging question or simply seeking a deeper connection with God. Walking the labyrinth takes me deep into a place of inner... [more]

This morning I woke up in a temple--my body. I woke up and thanked God for this gift of flesh. Sometimes, I treat my body like a utility vehicle, driving around until a light on the dashboard alerts me, “You live in the Temple of the Holy Spirit! Show her... [more]

In 2009 I was part of a community - a ministry school.  One of the things that was set in the curriculum were days of reflection - times set apart for seeking the presence of God - creating sacred space. . . Some of my classmates went off to remote... [more]

For me, a sacred space is usually a quiet place. It is any space where I stop what I am doing to listen or talk with God. There was a sacred space for me, a very long time ago when I was still single. It was a quiet beach in... [more]

I have always been directionally challenged, and I’m thankful for this because twice when I was lost, I found something sacred.    

Many years ago, I took a year off from nursing and lived in Great Britain. While touring France, I lost my way and somehow found myself in... [more]

This query about sacred space brought me many memories of remarkable places. Places recognized through space and time as holy sites, as thin places where the veil between this world and the sacred other is transparent and slight. I recalled walking the worn and ancient stone labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral... [more]

Is something sacred because we, or others, hold it sacred?  Or is something sacred because it IS?

Knowing as I do that there are multitudes of answers to this question, I can still be bashful about acting on my answer in public.

Two weeks ago at my living... [more]

I first attended Meeting for Worship in a small house in Flagstaff, Arizona.  When I entered the gathered meeting, there was a hush that felt palpable.  The silence was like the cool, quiet of a cave; like a living thing, it embraced and supported me.

My first labyrinth walk... [more]

I worked for a week at a project near the town of Needles. Its purpose was to clean up an incursion of hexavalent chromium seeping underground toward the Colorado River upstream from where the City of Los Angeles draws its drinking water. But there was a problem. The local Mojave... [more]

When my son Eric graduated from college in Malibu, California, he took his first job as youth pastor of the church he had been attending for four years. I visited that church several times and was struck by something strange every time. The rather new, imposing, richly designed sanctuary of... [more]