Creating Sanctuary in Your Everyday Life

“Sanctuary is finding a place to regain our bearings, reclaim our soul, heal our wounds and return to the world as a wounded healer. It’s not merely about finding shelter from the story - it’s about spiritual survival and the capacity to carry on.”

Parker Palmer

When Pete and I head to the lake at summer’s end for a break in our action-packed life, we are seeking shelter. We shelter from our routine and our tendency to work more than we play. I start thinking about returning to our shelter as we pack up to leave the lake. After loading the kayaks and floats, the workout equipment and leftover food, we back the car out of the garage and begin the steep climb up the driveway towards home. I do not look back. I look ahead. I think about the next time we will return to this wonderful place of leisure, quiet, wildlife, a comfortable dock to perch on and launch ourselves into the glassy lake.

This is not a sanctuary - it’s shelter.

If I waited until I was on our lake vacation to experience sanctuary, I would be in big trouble mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Sanctuary is finding a place moment-by-moment, hour-by-hour, day-by-day...on and on marching across the timeline of our lives.

This is new information for me. I consider our vacations the ideal time to experience sanctuary, and it is true enough that we do find that during those weeks of solitude, stillness and silence. But we bring it with us. It isn’t the environment, it is the essence of our lives that allow or resist finding sanctuary.

One way I find sanctuary is using the practice of The Welcoming Prayer. I go slow with it. I talk back to it. There are more formal, codified ways to practice the welcoming prayer and if you want more details contact me and I will send you some lovely details about such things. But this is how I personally find myself using it.

When I pray The Welcoming Prayer, I am practicing faith even when filled with doubt, courage even when overcome with fear. I dare to pray this prayer as a way of intending to believe that God is for me, not against me; that his hand is upon me as support and encouragement, not as punishment or manipulation. It is a short but specific way I admit to God and myself that my assessment may feel certain in the moment but have often proven unreliable. I commit my intention to let go of those false strategies that honestly, never worked that great anyway. I let go of my desire to control ife, rather than surrender to God’s presence in my life.

It begins like this: Welcome, welcome, welcome.

Today, I invite you to sit quietly and welcome God into your sanctuary. Invite yourself to participate in God’s work - equipping you for spiritual survival and giving you the capacity to carry on.

Let’s pray...The Welcoming Prayer by Mary Mrozowski

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

Spiritual sanctuary is not about retreats and the perfect candle. Although, both are lovely. But if we only think about sanctuary and our idealized view of its necessary accoutrements, we are missing out. To welcome God into our life requires that we acknowledge that what God does once he gets there is really none of our business.

I welcome everything that comes to me in this moment because I know it is for my healing.

In the welcoming prayer, we are - welcoming. We trust that the world is a healing place, a place of hope, a creation of God intended to bless us and others. Sometimes this is an act of fierce will, often it feels like crazy talk to believe this about our germy world. But this is the work of faith.

I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations and conditions.

We trust ourselves. We trust that we can handle all that is real and true about ourselves. We get curious and stop all the self-judgment and self-doubt.

I let go of my desire for security, approval and control.

Some days my desires are so long I have to take a break for lunch before I complete the list of things I am holding onto for security, the people I am looking to for approval and ALL the ways I am trying to exert control. It is what it is.

I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person or myself.

We let go of the desire, and then ask God to show us how to apply it to our daily decisions. This prayer is a commitment!

I open to the love and presence of God and the healing action and grace within.

Oh blessed relief. And, dare I say it? Perhaps the toughest part of this prayer. To trust God. To admit that his work in me is none of my business. I open up, and after that - it’s up to God to decide what happens next. Or doesn’t feel like it is happening at all. We open. We rise and take on the day.

Amen

The Welcoming Prayer

Oh Tiger, Tiger, what if you could believe that God makes everything come out right? What if we believed the same? Spend some time today reminding yourself that as a faithful person, this is actually what you sign up to believe when you commit yourself to God.

Some days I have no words to express my heart’s longings. That’s ok! We know the Spirit is groaning on our behalf like Serena Williams in the middle of a crucial match point. But some days I WANT words, and when those days hit, I often turn to the prayers of others who have gone before me. The Welcoming Prayer is one of my favorites. When I pray it, I am practicing faith even when filled with doubt, courage even when overcome with fear. I pray this prayer as a way of naming my intentions - to believe that God is for me, not against me; that his hand is upon me as support and encouragement, not to punish or manipulate me. It is short and specific. I admit to God and myself that my assessments may feel certain in the moment but have often proven unreliable. I commit my intention to let go of those false strategies that honestly, never worked that great anyway. I let go of my desire to control life, rather than surrender to God’s presence in my life. Join me?

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

I welcome everything that comes to me in this moment because I know it is for my healing.

I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations and conditions.

I let go of my desire for security.

I let go of my desire for approval.

I let go of my desire for control.

I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person or myself.

I open to the love and presence of God and the healing action and grace within.

By Mary Mrozowski*

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A note about Mary. She was a founding member of Chrysalis House, a contemplative community in Warwick, New York. She was a vital spiritual force, well-known for her deep spirituality and love of God.