The most powerful places in my life are inevitably nostalgic places. For instance, where I am right now—the Fairfield County Fairgrounds. I’m sitting on the north side of the race track, cozied up against the historic wooden grandstand. Even though it’s the week before the 162nd Fairfield County Fair, there’s very little activity. It’s quiet, only the sound of traffic reverberating off the face of Mount Pleasant. With sixty-three-year-old eyes I scan the same oft-pictured race track and the same gloriously white-robed sycamore trees that enthralled me as a ten-year-old.
Like many of you, I love nostalgia. New things excite me, but old things romance me. Don’t get me wrong, I love to take advantage of new technology (other than the Amish, who doesn’t?). But there’s something about physically connecting with the past that helps me stay centered. I don’t think many would argue that our culture is moving at warp speed, and that “new” is only new for a day before the “next new” sticks its hand in the air and demands our attention.
From where I’m sitting, little has changed in nearly one hundred years, and in this rapidly changing culture anything unchanged can be very therapeutic—and if you choose, it can become sacred.
Sacred places are simply places set aside to experience the personal presence of God. Perhaps your church is a sacred place. I encourage you to discover your own personal sacred place. Mine have become companions to me in good times and bad, where I have personal spiritual experiences, awakenings—often experiencing divine revelation and a sense of God’s presence.
My sacred places are very attractive to me; they draw something from deep inside me, that equips me see life from God’s perspective and not just my own. They provide needed serenity and privacy.
A place becomes sacred for one simple reason: God graces you with His personal presence. The more often we visit, the more likely He is to show up… to touch our hearts, to draw us near to Him. Sacred is to believers what romance is to lovers. The Lord and I share several sacred places where we hang out together. This happens to be one of my favorites. I won’t tell you about the others because… well, they’re sacred. God and I have an understanding: when I come there, He knows I’m not just being nostalgic, but I’ve come to draw close to Him. To hear what He might speak into my spirit and to bask in the unspeakable wellspring of His acceptance and love. I discover sensations like I’m feeling now—my eyes are leaking, and my masculine bullishness has melted into a puddle of contentment, accompanied by a sense of awe that enlarges my ability to appreciate all good things.
If this all seems foreign to you, let me challenge you to get off alone somewhere and beckon Him to meet with you. Then let me know what happens, will you? I’d like to know about your sacred place experiences in the places that allow you to detoxify and reconnect with the Lord.
But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
the LORD hears when I call to him.
Psalm 4:3
Lord, thank You for visiting me in my sacred places. Thank You for hearing me when I call, and for responding with kindness even when I’m cranky. Amen.