I firmly believe that God is with us whether we are in a cathedral, out in the woods, or sitting in front of our TV. However, our sense of God’s presence and our confidence that God is listening is often very contingent on our location. What I mean by that is that there are some places where we feel more connected to God than others. We each have places and spaces where we sense the sacred more than others. I grew up in the woods and on the beach, and when I am in the wilderness I feel much closer to God than when I walk down the street here in San Francisco. For others, the reverse is true because they are very connected to seeing God in the lives of those around them. Some people feel connected to God in churches, or with loved ones.
We each have different things that make us feel connected to God and help to draw our attention to God’s presence in our lives. These are the sacred spaces in our lives, those places and things that help us connect with God. It is important that we use these things in our prayer life. If you feel closest to God among people, then perhaps you should consider making prayer walks part of your routine, where you purposefully go out among people to pray. If you feel closest to God while among nature, then try to regularly get out among nature. For myself, though, it
is hard to bring the Redwoods and mountains to San Francisco. My sacred spaces are too far away to help me in my daily prayer life. So instead of going to them, I set up a small sacred space in my home, using images, sights, and smells from my bigger sacred space to help me connect with God. You can see a picture of a sacred space I set up in my apartment a few years ago to the right.
As I connect to God through nature, my sacred space has a lot of nature images that I took, as well as pictures of loved one and other religious images. I use candles to remind me of the nights spent reading the Bible by firelight, and use incense to remind me of the scent of nature. This spot in my house is holy, set aside for no other use than to pray with God. Perhaps you don’t have a spot where you can do that, but we all can find ways of using our big sacred spaces in our daily prayer life. Maybe you can have a scented candle to remind you of the smells of getting together with family. Perhaps you can buy a photo album and put your sacred images in that.
Regardless of what your sacred space is, make sure to find ways of incorporating it into your prayer life on a regular basis. I find this is especially helpful when I am having a hard time connecting with God. Having a specific place, a routine, images, music, or smells, that are associated with God and set aside as holy and sacred help me to connect with God much easier.
Throughout Christian history people have believed that, while God is everywhere, if we set aside particular things or places as holy and sacred we can train ourselves to recognize God’s presence in those locations better. That is what we do when we treat the sanctuary of a church different than other parts of a church. We have set aside the sanctuary for holy use only, and when we are in the sanctuary we are preparing ourselves to meet with God. We can do the exact same thing in our own homes and lives, by setting aside as sacred places those objects, images, places, music, that personally help us connect with God. It doesn’t have to be huge to be significant.
We each have different things that make us feel connected to God and help to draw our attention to God’s presence in our lives. These are the sacred spaces in our lives, those places and things that help us connect with God. It is important that we use these things in our prayer life. If you feel closest to God among people, then perhaps you should consider making prayer walks part of your routine, where you purposefully go out among people to pray. If you feel closest to God while among nature, then try to regularly get out among nature. For myself, though, it
is hard to bring the Redwoods and mountains to San Francisco. My sacred spaces are too far away to help me in my daily prayer life. So instead of going to them, I set up a small sacred space in my home, using images, sights, and smells from my bigger sacred space to help me connect with God. You can see a picture of a sacred space I set up in my apartment a few years ago to the right.As I connect to God through nature, my sacred space has a lot of nature images that I took, as well as pictures of loved one and other religious images. I use candles to remind me of the nights spent reading the Bible by firelight, and use incense to remind me of the scent of nature. This spot in my house is holy, set aside for no other use than to pray with God. Perhaps you don’t have a spot where you can do that, but we all can find ways of using our big sacred spaces in our daily prayer life. Maybe you can have a scented candle to remind you of the smells of getting together with family. Perhaps you can buy a photo album and put your sacred images in that.
Regardless of what your sacred space is, make sure to find ways of incorporating it into your prayer life on a regular basis. I find this is especially helpful when I am having a hard time connecting with God. Having a specific place, a routine, images, music, or smells, that are associated with God and set aside as holy and sacred help me to connect with God much easier.
Throughout Christian history people have believed that, while God is everywhere, if we set aside particular things or places as holy and sacred we can train ourselves to recognize God’s presence in those locations better. That is what we do when we treat the sanctuary of a church different than other parts of a church. We have set aside the sanctuary for holy use only, and when we are in the sanctuary we are preparing ourselves to meet with God. We can do the exact same thing in our own homes and lives, by setting aside as sacred places those objects, images, places, music, that personally help us connect with God. It doesn’t have to be huge to be significant.
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