The word SANCTUARY has been on my mind this week. I want to talk about it. What does it mean? a safe place: a haven of rest: a shelter in a storm: a Holy place: a place of refuge: a gathering place.
These make me think of God as my Sanctuary…….but, can we be a sanctuary for others? We sing, ‘God make me a sanctuary, tried and true.’ I think I experienced Sanctuary this week with three of my Sewing Sisters as we went to Athens to deliver the quilt we made for Sue Anne Harris. Her sanctuary for now is in the Univ. Nursing Center. She was so thrilled to see us and get the quilt so lovingly made by her friends here in Ellijay. She says to tell you all “Thank you” and she loves you. She shared with us the needs of her roommate who was taken to the hospital for emergency surgery. She is praying for her caregivers and people who work there. We prayed and read favorite scripture together. This is truly a place of sanctuary for many.
I ask each of you to seek out someone today or this week to give them this Holy feeling of sanctuary. Be a safe, caring place for a person in need.
Books can and do give me a feeling of sanctuary as I read of people’s lives that make a difference in this world of lost and loneliness. Our shelves are full of help from David Jeremiah, Charles Stanley, Billy Graham, Corrie Ten Boom, Catherine Marshall, Jan Karon, Tracey Petterson, and many others.
“O God, you are my God.
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you:
My whole body longs for you
In this parched and weary land
Where there is no water.
I have seen you in your sanctuary
and gazed upon your power and glory.
Your unfailing love is better than life itself:
How I praise you! “
Psalm 63: 1-3
Shirley Olmstead