Gathering Graces 3/22/2020 Finding Sanctuary

It is Sunday, and many churches closed their doors and broadcast their services online.  Our leadership at church went back and forth and decided to keep our doors open.  Partly because right now we have a unique congregation.  We are small.  Our sanctuary is big.  And we would rather have the members of our congregation come together in our sanctuary where it has been cleaned, we are spread out, and everyone knows one another.  I am glad we gathered together this morning.  It felt good to have some connection with people I love.  It was good to have a time of worshiping God together.  One of the people in our congregation celebrated her 93rd birthday today, and was able to spend some time surrounded by people she loved in a place she loved.  We sang "Happy Birthday" to her.  No hugs or hand shakes were shared this morning.  Everyone kept their distance from one another.  But connection was made.  People were encouraged to check on one another throughout the week.  We had 17 people in the service this morning, representing 9 households.  We created a sanctuary that was needed.  Others across our valley also created their own sanctuaries in their homes as they took advantage of the incredible technology we now possess and worshiped with their church in an online format.  But that was not what worked for us.  We gathered together this morning. And it was good.  

Psalm 134 says:

"Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who minister by night in the house of the Lord.
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.
May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who is the Maker of heaven and earth."

Right now we need a sanctuary, a place of refuge and safety.  For many it is their home.  For others it is sitting next to a campfire on their river place.  It may be a walk along a river.

Paul, Zoe and I found sanctuary walking along the river today.

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I also find sanctuary walking around in my backyard, watching it come alive and change from day to day.  One thing I discovered was a rose bush growing.  Last fall my friend Ann told me to take some cuttings from the climbing rose in her garden and put the cuttings in the dirt under a mason jar, and they will start growing in the spring.  It worked!!  I have leaves on one of the cuttings!!

There is a song we used to sing at church called "Sanctuary".  As I was writing this, it kept going through my head, but I couldn't quite remember how it went.  Ah, the joy of YouTube, where you can find almost any song that is playing in your head.  This song talks about how we, too, can be a living sanctuary.  I love this version of Jessie Dixon singing "Sanctuary".  Now I am asking myself, how can I be a sanctuary in such a time as this?