Reflection:
The Inner Sanctuary

St. Theresa of Avila wrote: "This magnificent refuge is inside you....Close your eyes and follow your breath to the still place that leads to the invisible path that takes you home." In this reflection we explore this place of refuge, this inner sanctuary.
Opening music:
Listen to the following as an opening prayer.
Lyrics:
Calm me Lord as you calmed the storm,
Still me Lord, keep me from harm,
Let all the tumult within me cease,
Enfold me Lord in your peace.
Sacred Reading:
Read the following readings through twice or three times, with an attitude of open receptivity. Allow a few minutes of silence between the readings. Listen for any words that call out to you, or that draw you into the sacredness of silence that is deeper than your usual knowing:
Reading 1, from St. Theresa of Avila:
"This magnificent refuge is inside you.
Enter. Shatter the darkness that shrouds the doorway...
Be bold. Be humble.
Put away the incense and forget the incantations they taught you.
Ask no permission from the authorities.
Close your eyes and follow your breath
to the still place that leads to the
invisible path that takes you home."
Reading 2, from 1 Corinthians 6:19 (Amplified version)
"Do you not know that your body is the temple, the very sanctuary, of the Holy Spirit who lives within you"
Reading 3, from Rumi:
“Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?
Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.
Live in silence.
Flow down and down in always widening rings of Being.”
Quiet prayer
I invite you into a time of prayer, using this guided prayer for letting go of surface turbulence and moving into the quiet depths.
End the time of quiet prayer by listening to the following song:
Lyrics:
In the stillness of my mind,
I behold the face of Love Divine.
Rock me in your arms of love, rock me in your arms.
Mother of Love, Father of Life, come hear your children.
For Further Reflection:
Below are quotes from the talk for you to take this theme further.
Mark 4:35-41
“That day when evening came, [Jesus] said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!””
Julian of Norwich: “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”
John O’Donohue: “There is a place in the soul that neither time nor space nor any created thing can touch. What that means is that your identity is not equivalent to your biography, and that there is a place in you where you have never been wounded, where there is still a sureness in you, where there's a seamlessness in you, and where there is a confidence and tranquillity in you. And I think the intention of prayer and spirituality and love is, now and again, to visit that inner kind of sanctuary.”
Cynthia Bourgeault: “Just beyond the storms of personal chaos lies the profound Indwelling power of love, the Source and true Centre.”
Etty Hillesum: “There is really a deep well inside me. And in it dwells God. Sometimes I am there too. But more often stones and grit block the well, and God is buried beneath. Then He must be dug out again.”
Beatrice Bruteau: “As the praying consciousness "loses" each of these "selves", it "finds itself" more and more at liberty. The more you take off bondage, the freer you become; the more you lose restrictions, the vaster you become. The more you empty yourself of predicates (outer layers of identity), the more you become full of Being. ... God irrupts at the center of your being as that fountain of living water that makes you to be.”
Deuteronomy 33:27 - “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms."
Jacob Boehme: “May my soul remain in resigned humility just as the fountain relies on its source”.
Ending Prayer:
In the busyness of this day grant me a stillness of seeing, O God.
In the conflicting voices of my heart grant me a calmness of hearing.
Let my seeing and hearing, my words and actions,
be rooted in a silent certainty of your presence.
Let my passions for life and the longings for justice that stir within me be grounded in the experience of your stillness.
Let my life be rooted in the ground of your peace, O God,
let me be rooted in the depths of your peace.
Amen.
(By John Philip Newell)
Ending music:
Lyrics:
Deep peace of the rolling waves to you
Deep peace of the silent stars
Deep peace of the blowing air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth
Let peace, let peace, let peace fill your soul
May peace, may peace, may peace keep you whole
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Sharon's book that was previously called "Contemplative Living" has been republished by AnamChara Books under the title "Deeper: Finding the Depth Dimension Beneath the Surface of Life". The Kindle version is available from Amazon, and the hard copy version can be ordered from loot.co.za or Takealot, or from your local bookshop through Ingram Distribution.