A couple of weeks ago, Caitlin and I took a ride up Old Frankfort Pike. I had just bought a new maxi scooter (like a motorcycle but with an automatic transmission) and we wanted to test it out. As we wove through horse country, we ended up turning on 1659 so we could ride along the Kentucky River. The speed limit dropped as we entered the tree line, and it wasn’t long before the air got cooler. As we rode out into open space, we noticed another car slowing down to take the view in. For a moment, it was like we had both been absorbed into the fields.
Throughout this season, I’ve been continually amazed by the moments of transcendence I’ve encountered, despite life otherwise feeling cramped by social distancing and quarantine. Even though this season has brought constraints with it, there are still spaces where I’ve been able to get outside of myself and experience God. More often than not, those spaces have been outdoors.
In the past few weeks, I’ve fallen more in love with the Bluegrass. I’ve ridden through hills and valleys, over bridges, and along creeks and rivers. I’ve discovered roads likes Grimes Mill Rd, Falcon Wood Way, and Pisgah Pike that have connected me more deeply with the region around me. I’ve seen churches, mills, distilleries, and barns that have stood the test of time, and have served as landmarks of Fayette, Scott, and Woodford counties.
It’s as if the entire Bluegrass region has become my sanctuary, and my motor scooter has become the altar on which I celebrate communion.
I wonder where those spaces are in your life where God is inviting you to a different kind of Eucharist. Maybe it’s a drive through the country. Maybe it’s a scenic overlook by a canyon. Maybe it’s a spot in your back yard where it’ easy for you to be still.
Maybe it’s not outside at all. Maybe it’s a book that connects you to God. Maybe it’s a spot in your house that draws you deeper into sacred space.
It’s easy and perfectly understandable to see this season as a limitation. But what if we saw it as an opportunity? What if it’s an opportunity to find new sacred space, not as a replacement for the physical Cathedral, but as an extension of it?
It’s easy and perfectly understandable to see this season as a limitation. But what if we saw it as an opportunity? What if it’s an opportunity to find new sacred space, not as a replacement for the physical Cathedral, but as an extension of it?
Our world is pregnant with the Spirit of God. All we have to do is step out into it to experience a different kind of Eucharist.
The Rev. Will Berry
The Rev. Will Berry
No comments:
Post a Comment