Sacred Space

   Alistair Eberst writes, "St. Cuthbert's Island adjoining the shore of Lindisfarne is a wonderful parable of quiet, for it is always in sight of the main  island, and yet for hours and hours at a time it is completely cut off. It seems designed especially to experience a day of solitude, long enough to limit your freedom, but not as inaccessible as the life of the true hermit. Here Cuthbert, and most certainly Aidan before him, escaped from the pressures of community and of missions and turned their face towards God."1
   Traveling to a sacred place might be easy for some, but I'm on a budget. I haven't found any local prayer huts or protected islands to escape to regularly. When we were newly married and had an infant daughter I determined to get away for a night and spend the time in prayer and quiet, so I went to the church camp an hour away with my tent and sleeping bag. I built a fire, and something in the smoke triggered my allergies. I got so sick I decided to go back home where I could spend the night in prayer and quiet without choking to death. My wife, whom I'd abandoned for the evening, found that quite humorous.
   My suspicion is that there are sacred spaces that are much closer to home than a church camp or St. Cuthbert's Island, and much more accessible. Any story scripture tells about  the ministry of Jesus will do. I find that I can go to one as a place apart, enter the story, and speak and be heard.
When I read about a dinner being given in Jesus' honor (John 12:1ff) I simply take my place at the table. Martha is serving, Lazarus is there recovering from death, and Mary is anointing Jesus' feet with expensive perfume, wiping them with her hair.
   Judas is there too, carping about wasting the perfume instead of selling it as a fundraiser for the poor, and it's obvious he's taking a swipe at Mary for being so wasteful. Jesus reprimands him: "Leave her alone. It was intended," he says, "that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial." John says that meanwhile a large crowd of Jews began to gather and plot Jesus' death.
   It seems like a lot of things are going on during this "simple dinner of honor." My first inclination is to take sides with one of the groups present. Which is most appealing? Martha serving food, Mary pouring perfume, Judas complaining, Jesus defending, Pharisees plotting? I know the story, so I know how it plays out. But what if I didn't?
   When my imagination comes into play I see Judas' response to Jesus' "Leave her alone ... It was intended." There is a quick look of defiance on Judas' face. It's not the reaction of a disciple/learner. One would expect appreciation for the instruction. But maybe Jesus does sound a bit harsh, more so than if it were simple instruction. The fact that Jesus knows what is "intended" - surely by God - infers that Judas doesn't have the insight Jesus does. Or perhaps Jesus can read him all too well.
   So now, imagining again, I feel a tension in the air. Martha's service is interrupted, as is Mary's attention to Jesus. The disciples look first at Judas, then back at Jesus, and it becomes quiet. And I enter into the sacred space of choosing.

Pastor Mike


1 Eberst, Alistair. "St Cuthbert's Island." Celtic Daily Prayer. 2002: HarperOne, p. 453.