I just got home from Prayer Around the Cross at Faith - a quiet contemplative setting featuring candlelight, long stretches of silence, and beautiful simple music. A rite of healing was included in tonight’s liturgy. After a week of vacation bible school with energy that multiplied upon itself as the days passed, I knew I needed some stillness. As Beth and Jim led us in singing Healer of Our Every Ill, I could feel my shoulders relax, my jaw unclench, and my hands lay loosely in my lap. The voices of Emma and Ellie, teens from the youth group, had the perfect soothing quality as they led the prayers. I was blessed and anointed by our intern Nate. There is something about the heaviness of someone else’s hands pressing on your head in blessing that is like no other
feeling.
And yet…..the stillness I craved was not yet achieved.
As I was leaving the building I decided to stop by the darkened sanctuary. (Prayer Around the Cross is held in a smaller more intimate space than our large sanctuary.) I walked up to the front pew and sat down. I looked at the floor to ceiling window in the Chancel. It was dark except for the twilight rays coming through the stained glass. And that’s when I felt it. Stillness.
I know I am blessed to work in a setting that is filled with beautiful sacred spaces. I frequently walk from my office to the sanctuary to just sit with God. I know God is always with me, but so are the distractions. Late afternoon with the setting sun hitting the stained glass at just the right angle, I re-member with God why I am called to work in his church. Through the images in the window, my thoughts center back on the gift of Christ and the grace of God. It fills me. It readies me. It stills me.
I was quietly delighted this week when I saw a dad from our congregation do the same thing after he dropped his two children off at vbs. I was walking through the sanctuary and at the last moment I saw him sitting there in the first pew, taking a moment to sit with God. I felt glad my secret was out! Someone else was drawing upon the stillness of God as strength for the day.
Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10) This simple verse is my prayer many days. It reminds me I can find healing in letting go and being still and letting God be God.
feeling.
And yet…..the stillness I craved was not yet achieved.
As I was leaving the building I decided to stop by the darkened sanctuary. (Prayer Around the Cross is held in a smaller more intimate space than our large sanctuary.) I walked up to the front pew and sat down. I looked at the floor to ceiling window in the Chancel. It was dark except for the twilight rays coming through the stained glass. And that’s when I felt it. Stillness.
I know I am blessed to work in a setting that is filled with beautiful sacred spaces. I frequently walk from my office to the sanctuary to just sit with God. I know God is always with me, but so are the distractions. Late afternoon with the setting sun hitting the stained glass at just the right angle, I re-member with God why I am called to work in his church. Through the images in the window, my thoughts center back on the gift of Christ and the grace of God. It fills me. It readies me. It stills me.
I was quietly delighted this week when I saw a dad from our congregation do the same thing after he dropped his two children off at vbs. I was walking through the sanctuary and at the last moment I saw him sitting there in the first pew, taking a moment to sit with God. I felt glad my secret was out! Someone else was drawing upon the stillness of God as strength for the day.
Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10) This simple verse is my prayer many days. It reminds me I can find healing in letting go and being still and letting God be God.
Creation window at Faith Lutheran Church.
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