Sacred Time
During the Eucharist in the chapel on Wednesday we recited a portion of Psalm 139. When I’m feeling distant from God, this psalm reminds me that God is never distant from me:
6 Where can I go then from your Spirit? *
where can I flee from your presence?
7 If I climb up to heaven, you are there; *
if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.
8 If I take the wings of the morning *
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
9 Even there your hand will lead me *
and your right hand hold me fast.
Western culture has, for a few centuries, divided the sacred from the secular. For Christians, even when we know God is present outside of the church, we often unconsciously separate the spiritual experience of Sunday from the temporal experience of the rest of the week.
You may have a dedicated time each day for prayer and reflection during which you focus on God outside of church. For me, this happens first thing in the morning. This is my opportunity to center myself and the upcoming day on Jesus. But once I set aside my Prayer Book, Bible, meditation app, and whatever other resource I may be using, I quickly move on to the rest of the day with my full calendar and list of things to do.
Does this happen to you? You pray, meditate, read, or listen to music. Then you go on with your day at work, school, or whatever activities fill your time. Perhaps you become aware of God at other times of the day. You lift a quick prayer asking for support for yourself or someone you love. Or you say a prayer of gratitude when you experience a special grace or see something beautiful. I suspect even in these moments, we still segregate God to some special sacred time, place, or experience. After all, we have things to do and places to be.
Psalm 139 reminds us that our separation of time into sacred and secular is a fiction. All time is filled with God’s presence. We are never alone but always existing in a space in which God is with us. All time, therefore, is sacred time.
I read an article recently in which the author encouraged focusing less on our spiritual practices and more on the practice of living in the presence of God. He did not suggest that we stop worshipping on Sundays or setting aside specific times for prayer and reflection. Instead, he emphasized the true purpose of spiritual practices. Worship and prayer, he wrote, are not practiced to place ourselves in God’s presence for a few minutes each day. They are opportunities for our souls and spirits to awaken so we can perceive the presence of God in each and every moment of our lives. When we live in the presence of the God who is always with us, all we do becomes a prayer and each moment an opportunity for grace.
