Afternoon Light

I've never seen a photograph of the inside of our church that captures even a part of what it feels like to be inside our Sacred Space. Below, please find my futile, blurry attempt from yesterday.

The inside of St. Paul's is alive. I've been inside the church countless times over the last six years and it never feels like it's the same space twice. Sometimes, as in the picture below, the change is because we have altered the decoration of the space to be appropriate for the liturgical season. More often, it's because the light keeps shifting due to the season, the weather, or the time of day. Occasionally, it's simply because a new detail has popped into my awareness (the blue in the Good Samaritan window!). Whatever the cause, it makes our church space seem like a living being with something to tell us, in hushed tones, about God.

Some people have discovered one of the great secrets about St. Paul's- the doors are open most of the time and, very often the church is quiet, just waiting for someone to come in and sit. Someone asked me last week if it was OK to just drop by the church and sit in quiet. Yes! Please do it. When you walk in, it completes the space. The church was designed, beautifully, to hold us in the love of Jesus so that we can hear his word for our life.

At least one parishioner, Bill Booth, has made visiting the church part of his weekly ritual. Every Friday afternoon he has to run errands to the bank and to his accountant in downtown San Rafael. Nearly every week, he makes time to just sit in the church and meditate. On of my weekly highlights is when he pops up to the office to gab a bit before going on his way.

I hope to see you, sometime, sitting in quiet in our beautiful, living Sacred Space.