sanctuary

'Holy Ghost, breathe upon me. Into my soul. Fill me with glory. All my life, i want to sing. Praises to You. Here in Your sanctuary, here in Your sanctuary.'

Its the chorus of a worship song. Its not a psalm, but there's still so much to learn from it.

Starting from a touch from God into our deepest parts that completes us, leading us into songs of joy. But what i want to focus on today is the last line of the song.

'Here in your sanctuary'. So all these great things happen in His sanctuary. It all starts with being in the sanctuary. Wonderful. But what is sanctuary? In a post-modernist world where we are encouraged to see everything as relative, sanctuary seems suprisingly constant. In the 'Age of Chivalry', sanctuary was a place where a person could hide from anything, including the law. It was a place of asylum, where peace was respected and upheld. Weapons were to be left outside the door, or entry was refused. Anyone within was safe. It was a concept beyond the law, something that people honoured without any written backing. If you are not familiar with the medieval concept, AD&D(advanced dungeons and dragons), a pen-and-paper RPG offers the same idea. In the game, sanctuary is a spell, a holy spell that can be cast by priests. It offers protection to the recipient. In some circles, it halves all damage dealt to target. For players, that usually translates to life and death. Its a virtual life-saver.

So how do you find sanctuary? In medieval times, you ran into a church, onto holy ground. In the game, you find a priest, or a holy guy(or gal). In either case, the concept is to approach a symbol representing God. Yet that is an incomplete model.

The truth is God wishes and desires, even yearns, for people to seek Him directly. Think of it as the divine version of 'Come on in. Have a glass of lemonade and tell me about your day'. It's God guarantee that you can come in and relax. Let go of your worries. The bills, the workload, the children, the parents, leave it all behind and be refreshed just by spending time with Him and trusting Him to take care of you and yours.

Reflections

Its been another 3 months. I thought i would comment on local news. But the follow through on that idea is remarkably non-existent. My chief clerk wont let me read the paper during office hours. Sure cramps up my opportunities to spot fallacies.

So another idea in the bin. No worries. Have a dozen more lining up for their shot at fame.

till next time,
el mike magnifico