Sanctuary

Last October, after grueling weeks of reviews and exams, I set off for a day of rest. Before setting out, I happened to see a book that had been lying around my pile of books for years but that I just hadn't picked up and read. Esther de Waal's "Lost in Wonder" turned out to be the perfect spiritual companion for this perfect sanctuary. Talk about experiencing our God in all things. I was only looking to rest, but ended up being filled to the brim with gratitude and grace in this wonderfully silent, serene space. 

"Listen to the silence,

let it enfold you,

like a piece of music,

like bird-watching."

-E. de Waal

"O God, 

I commend to you this time

and ask you to bless

and to strengthen me

in my heartfelt search

for that silence and stillness

in which I pray

I shall find you

and you shall find me."

-E. de Waal

"You do not have to

Look for anything, just

 Look.

You do not have to 

Listen for specific

Sounds, just

Listen.

You do not have to

Accomplish anything, just

Be,

And in the 

Looking, and the

Listening, and the 

Being, find
Me.

-Ann Lewin

"I desire to be all silence,

all adoration,

to penetrate ever deeper and deeper into God,

and to be so filled with God

that I may in my prayer

give him to those who do not know him."

-Elizabeth of the Trinity

"My Lord and my God!"

+

In the Silence

I have found great comfort in this song. It speaks of how Jesus is most with us in our quiet moments, those times when we are still enough to listen and behold the silence within us. He tells us how He is so present with us there. How He also longs to express His love for us. We only have to give him that silent space and hear him speak. Our desire to feel His healing love is matched, or even outmatched, by His own desire to express the same to us. What a God we have!

The sketch here was done during one prayer time last Holy Week 2007.


YOU ARE MINE
by David Haas

I will come to you in the silence, I will lift you from all our fear,
You will hear my voice, I claim you as my choice, Be still and know I am here!

I am hope for all who are hopeless, I am eyes for all who long to see,
In the shadows of the night, I will be your light, Come and rest in Me!

(Chorus) Do not be afraid I am with you; I have called you each by name
Come ad follow me, I will bring you home,
I love you and you are mine!

I am strength for all the despairing; healing for the ones who dwell in shame,
All the blind will see, the lame will all run free; And all will know My name!

I am the Word that leads all to freedom, I am the peace the world cannot give,
I will call your name, embracing all your pain, stand up, now walk and live!