“….although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary….”

I heard this verse in a play at the Theare on the Square Thursday night. (Sidenote- if you live in Marietta, get yourself to the TOTS and see the new play about the Sanders family. Hilarious, touching, deeply spiritual, and did I mention HILARIOUS?!?)

When I think of a sanctuary, I think of Notre Dame in Paris, France. I don’t know if you have been there, but it is probably my favorite sanctuary in the world. It’s dark and cold. Every step you take is heard by every other person in the building, so that there is a constant swooshing sound as people slide their feet across the tile. Candlelight flickers from small votives lit around the room and some sunlight streams through the stain-glassed windows, but there is no overhead lighting (that I remember, at least). And maybe, if you are lucky, there is a priest reading scripture in Latin or French, in a deep melodic voice that reverberates through the room. And THAT is a sanctuary. That place is holy. Set apart. Safe. It makes my soul settle down in me just thinking about it.

I always think of God when I’m there. I love imagery in scripture, in life. I guess it’s my lack of smarts, but it really helps if someone gives me a picture of what they are talking about. So I think, as much as a sinner can grasp it, I kinda get this idea of God as a sanctuary. Because how often do you wish life would slow down and you could just take a deep breath and sit for a minute? I think it all the time. And what I’m really saying, I think, maybe screaming like the gypsy in Hunchback of Notre Dame, “SANCTUARY!” or “Something! Anything! Just be safe and quiet and still for my heart! Protect me!”

I think God reminded me this week that HE is that place. He is my safe place. He is my sanctuary. A place of rest, a place a quiet, a place of reverent hope.

The entire train of thought, my brain trip to Paris, the idea of sanctuary, also brings back to my mind a favorite old praise song that we used to sing in France. The Americans would sing it in English and the Frenchies would echo in French. What I would give if there was YouTube in 1996.

You are my hiding place
You always fill my heart with songs of deliverance
Whenever I am afraid
I will trust in You
I will trust in You
Let the weak say “I am strong
in the strength of my Lord”
I will trust in You

I pray you find sanctuary in God today.