How Do You Define Sacred?

How often do you say the word sacred?

Before my forties, I probably never said it

Anything holy would have been followed by profanity.
I know, hard to believe when you see pictures of me gazing up at Our Creator with awe and adoration, right?
Sacred is life-altering.

 

Recently, I spoke the word for what felt like the first time. I was at my missionary leadership training. The conversation turned to social media and the wide array of posts: people’s meals, travel, children, nature, and so on. One of my colleagues shared a story and said, “but I didn’t get a picture, though”.

Looking back, I am unsure whether he was being sarcastic or serious.

Either way, my heart spilled:

“I think people tend to share too much publicly. There are some things meant to be sacred.” As the s rolled off my tongue, I had a moment of “Wow, I said that?” Silence came over the table, as if Spirit pressed the pause button for all of us to reflect.

Since that day, I feel like God has been dropping popcorn for me to follow:

• I connected with someone on Instagram who seeks the sacred in the ordinary. You can find her @tinawrites.

• I wrote Everyday Miracles not that long ago. Although I did not use the word sacred, I was describing it. Here’s the link in case you missed it:

https://juliedibblewrites.wordpress.com/2017/06/03/everyday-mriacles/

• I read how Anne Lamott regards libraries:

“I have found sanctuary in libraries my whole life, and there is sanctuary there now, from the war, from the storms of life, from our own minds. Libraries are like mountains or meadows or creeks: sacred space” (Plan B Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott).

Oh, thank you, Miss Lamott, for bringing my attention to such an awesome moment, standing in a library aisle, closing my eyes, imagining each author who penned the pages while emptying their souls, beads of sweat dripping while tears of frustration and joy washed their tired eyes.

 

Each page a legacy, a permanent record of sacred space.

The day after I read about libraries, I walked in the park. That still small voice whispered sacred space. My attention went here:

A mini cove, perhaps for a specific animal’s protection or home? The natural way the trees crowded together but left the opening seemed like an invitation to sacred space.

A man-made path over God’s ground, creating a connection, a way to ?

This sight stopped me. As I pondered how the boards took away from the beauty, I acknowledged how quickly Adam and Eve’s surroundings changed with introduction of sin. For what was Heaven on Earth slipped away to drudgery and pain. God told us we would have to toil, for sin tainted the sacred.

God, again put Heaven on earth when Mary became pregnant. I wonder how she felt, feeling the Son of God growing, stretching her body, leaving marks both on her skin and in her womb, the sacred place … and there He was, the great I Am, a precious new baby with milky soft skin snug in cloth blankets atop hay. Those who refused to rearrange their rooms for the night had no idea they were missing a once-in-a-lifetime sacred, the birth of Our Lord and Savior.

So when we experience a sacred place, is it a divine event, shroud in mystery?

• The firefly who illuminates in the darkness¸ being His light on a sleepy neighborhood street

• The usually obstinate child with sweat-matted hair who just finished rolling his eyes because he was told no he could not play electronics, then blurts out with see-through sincerity “maybe I will be a pastor”. (I have only told you and my husband, not sure what to think yet)

• The stillness of the night where bats and owls come alive. Outside on our front walk at 3:30am in the morning, I couldn’t understand why the birds were making such a chatter. My friend broke the news, “They were probably bats”. Squeezing my eyes closed, I wished she didn’t say it. In writing this post, I remember the sound … the sound of a bat congregation in the privacy of the darkness, unheard and unseen by most of the world. A life-filled symphony with bursts of excitement.

Perhaps there was a birth or they were just simply together.

Yes, sacred space is together

with God and nature when His beauty is revealed

with God and my husband when our bodies fit together perfectly, the moments you want to last forever.

with God and our oldest son when I see a natural smile crack through his anxious fear (no photo available)

with God and the very tender way our youngest son clasps my hands with his rough boyish hands to show his love

with God and me, yes the essence of who I am, whom He created me to be, with my bone-bare blemishes that displease Our maker perhaps for an instant, then instantly in His timelessness … He welcomes me, all of me to Him, leading me to thank Him and feel His presence when I stop, arrest all movement, look up and focus, and open myself to the goodness He showers … sacred space.

Sacred is
untouched
and undisturbed
held in the highest esteem and honor,
arranged and anointed by Him.

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Friends, where do you experience sacred? Or is it something you have yet to discover? I would love to hear your stories.

Next Tuesday we will hear from a special guest, willing to share the sacred space in her heart with us.

In the meantime, lets connect on social media:

https://Facebook.com/jdibble4Him

https://twitter.com/@julie_dibble

https://Instagram.com/@jayjule03