I am at Disneyland right now! On vacation! Sometimes I find myself frustrated at the crowds around me and at certain comments from my family (just as I’m sure they are frustrated with me at times!). But my husband said something very wise as we cued up for the Haunted Mansion – he said, “It is like a labyrinth.”
It was! The difference being the labyrinth leads to a holy space and returns you on the same path. And a cue leads to an event and you exist on a different path. But do we really need a bunch of tools in our tool kit to create sacred space? Do I need my Mary Oliver book, my Bible, my candles, a labyrinth? Or do I need to simply be open? In this instant, in this place, simply being open became enough.
I proceeded down the path towards the Haunted Mansion with my heart stretched and my ears open to the sounds of conversation, of the mechanisms of the ride, of the water nearby, or the staff. And I felt the connectivity with the cosmos. The sacred was there. In the cue at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland.
Of course, intellectually, I know this. But experientially, I forget. I get caught up in being right (if it is my family or politics) or caught up in impatience (a 45 minute cue?!). But if I slow down and begin again, I can recall myself to the center and extend my consciousness outward from my body into the world around me. Greeting my loved ones, strangers, trees, all of it – the cosmos.
The cosmos is also within us, we’re made of star stuff. ~Carl Sagan
We just have to remember!
star stuff drifts
through the cosmos
salvation’s quest
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(c) 2013, T. Stewart
Cell Phone
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Shalom & Amen!
Terri
P.S. – I’d love for you to drop by www.BeguineAgain.com and see some of the Advent reflections taking place. Today’s reflection is on World AIDS Day from an unsung hero, Tracy Daugherty.
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© 2013, post and photos, Terri Stewart, All rights reserved
REV. TERRI STEWART is The Bardo Group Sunday chaplain, senior content editor, and site co-administrator. She comes from an eclectic background and considers herself to be grounded in contemplation and justice. She is the Director and Founder of the Youth Chaplaincy Coalition that serves youth affected by the justice system. As a graduate of Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry, she earned her Master’s of Divinity and a Post-Master’s Certificate in Spiritual Direction. She is a contributing author to the Abingdon Worship Annual.
Her online presence is “Cloaked Monk.” This speaks to her grounding in contemplative arts and the need to live it out in the world. The cloak is the disguise of normalcy as she advocates for justice and peace. You can find her at www.cloakedmonk.com, www.twitter.com/cloakedmonk, and www.facebook.com/cloakedmonk. To reach her for conversation, send a note to cloakedmonk@outlook.com
The BeZine 
We do need these little reminders that there is actually nothing but Sacred Space. If we can be on the battle field or helping out at a prison and feel the sense of the Divine as much as we do in a cathedral/temple/mosque or in a garden, then we need nothing else.
A fine post, Terri. A good reminder. Thank you~
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This is wonderful for me! I do love it! Now forgive me for saying this. But my appreciation of this piece will mean nothing if I am not truthful. Remember the commy haters of the 50s and probably 60s? Well of course you don’t. But their reputation lives on. It has never been Communists that I have feared but Disney. And of course I have loathed Disney with the same demented energies that people put into their fear and loathing of Communism. I always feel that Disney wishes to take over the world and I loathe what they have done to classic characters. Well you get my point. So this is awesome!
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Whoops, think that is Commie haters.
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Liz, I’m glad you said it first. I am Bashful about being a Disney-hater. Truth is, I took my children to Disneyworld for Thanksgiving years ago. The queues were not that long on the actual holiday. There is much to consider; I don’t want to be dogmatically disdainful of anything.
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I have to admit, I never would have thought to put the words “sacred space” and “Disney” in the same sentence. I love the animated art-form of the Disney movies, but I loathe the monstrous, rapacious, black hole of a corporation that they have become. But now you have made me stop and consider how, even in the midst of something that I would never think to view as “sacred space”, it can be found, and not only found, but should be sought. Perhaps especially in places where one would not think to look. Hmmm…*nods* There is a lot of merit in that. Thanks for enlightening me yet again. 🙂
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