Finding sacred space, sacred grace

It’s a Sunday afternoon and the house is as still as a sailboat cutting through a calm sea.

The recent pattering of rain has subsided and a hushed quiet makes me realize how seldom we actually slow down to be present to this kind of moment. Ours is a harried, hurried life. Last weekend, however, I had an opportunity to flee the norms of life and be swallowed in grace at a retreat I attended, drawing me into God’s light like a moth in summer. The presenter was Father Richard Rohr speaking on “Contemplation as a Different Form of Consciousness.” Wow!

What he said was most stunning: that we truly mature spiritually, not through good times, but when we walk in darkness and difficulty or through meditative prayer and various forms of contemplation. Rohr referred to this time as luminal space, the space between our spiritual advancements. He said we start with head knowledge of God with rules and regulations coupled with black and white thinking. Then, as we progress in the spiritual journey, we begin seeing things less rigid and more fluid with God more available and close.

Fr. Rohr shared a story which touched my heart deeply. He was staying in a hermitage where certain monks, living deep in the woods, praying and meditating, only came to the main facility for Christmas and Easter. One day as he was walking in the wilderness one of the cloistered monks was walking on the same path coming towards him. So he got off the path, dropped his head down allowing the monk pass undisturbed. But, much to his surprise, the monk recognized him from his books and with a great deal of zeal spoke a few passionate words: “Go back and tell them God is not out there!” he said, while pointing to the sky.

Many of us begin our spiritual journey with the image of God not as a loving father, but as a distant rule-keeper. At this stage God is out there just waiting for us to disappoint him, critical of ourselves and others. But as we advance in our walk of faith, especially through prayer and contemplation, we realize that God is with us every step of the way. He walks with us through the darkness when we are pushed to our limits, lost and out of control, aware of our sinfulness, broken and confused, rejected and alone. In those desolate times God’s radical grace is so close teaching many life lessons, catapulting us into a new level of spirituality, softening our hearts to his love. Once we accept his all- inclusive love for us we are led to compassion for our broken selves and others. And that my friends, is the good news!

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” Mark 6:34