Sunday, January 4, 2009

SACRED SPACE

As a child, one of my favorite poems was by A.A. Milne, and it went like this:

Halfway down the stairs
is a stair
where I sit.
There isn't any
other stair
quite like
it.

I'm not at the bottom,
I'm not at the top;
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop.

Halfway up the stairs
Isn't up,
And isn't down.
It isn't in the nursery,
It isn't in the town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head:
"It isn't really
Anywhere!
It's somewhere else
Instead!"

As a kid, did you have a fort? A tree house? A hiding place? A tablecloth over a card table? A large cardboard box? Your special place?

The fact that you are now grown, does not mean you need to abandon your special place. It actually means that you need to re-establish it if you lost it along your journey.

We all need a special place where we can be alone with our thoughts and ourselves.
It is our sacred space -- it isn't really anywhere, it's somewhere else instead.

We learned from Jacob, that the Divine is in whatever place we currently inhabit. It is in every place. But we tend to forget this. We tend to not notice burning bushes right in front of our eyes.

So it is important that we have a place we can go sometimes to just BE. Mine is in my small library/office, a place where I can sit back in my chair and put my feet up on my desk and read, study, write, and just BE. A place where I can set my coffee cup and not worry if it leaves a coffee ring.

And often, my sacred space is the place where I walk the dogs -- whatever path we take, it is sacred. (unless I haven't had my coffee and the squirrels and cats are bold and frisky and the dogs get tangled in each other and make themselves and me nuts -- then it is not so sacred! And if the pit bulls are foaming and lunging out their window with torn screens when we pass their apartment, it is not sacred, but darn scary!) But mostly, it is a time for me to just BE with myself and my thoughts and my precious pups.

I had the fortune to stumble upon the website of a very talented musician, Rebecca Zapen. She had an incredible song called "halfway down the stairs" which reminded me of my childhood poem. Check it out, and check out some of her other music. Quite a talented person. A special treat.

As Sunday afternoon fades into evening, as stars replace the setting sun, stop and think where you can go to find yourself in this chaotic world. And if you don't have a "stair" where you can BE -- perhaps now is the time to find one.

Enjoy your makom, your place, and make it sacred.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ann, thank you for the beautiful reminder of a favorite child poem (mine, too!) and of the importance of being here now and making that "here" sacred. I love your blog and appreciate it...and you.

Anonymous said...

My favorite space is my bedroom. All four furries and I sleep together, wake together. I meditate and study there and now I am moving it to the back of the house closer to nature.

As long as it is quiet and has lots of light, it is all I need. Thank you for drawing attention to how important this is.