"Creating Sacred Space"

So in order to complicate things sufficiently in order to better understand them, I thought I would discuss this story from Genesis (28: 10-22). It might be useful to note that in the text just before this passage, Jacob has been blessed by his father Isaac and sent out into the world to find a wife and get on with his life. So he sets off and gets tired and so lies down to sleep. What happens? He has a dream of a ladder with angels going up and down and God shows up and promises that he will have lots of children and also promises to stay with him and give him a bunch of land. Please remember though that this is a dream, not a vision. He is clearly asleep when this happens. So what does Jacob do? He reflects on his experience and assigns meaning to it. He could have said, whoa, that was weird dream, now what is for breakfast? How many people here have had dreams that spoke to you in some way that felt spiritual? What did you do about it, if anything? Well, in case you are unsatisfied with what you have done with it, you will have an opportunity later during this service to work with that energy in an intentional way.

But back to Jacob: What did he do? He took the rock that he had been using as a pillow, and sets it up as a monument, and creates a ritual around this rock, by naming the place Bethel which means house of god, and by pouring oil on the rock. He takes his dream, assigns meaning to it, and then creates sacred space. He defines the rock, which had a few minutes previously been a rather inefficient pillow, as a monument, as a sacred rock which now defines this space as sacred, of God.

One might wonder how confident he was of this process by what he says next. He goes through the “if” statements. IF God will stay with me on my journey, IF God will arrange for me to have plenty of food and clothing (no simple task in those days for someone on a journey), and IF God will protect me and keep me safe throughout the whole journey until I return home to my father (another big IF), then and only then will I recognize him as my god and define the new stone as god’s house. Then it does a bit of haggling even though in the dream this god had not put on any conditions, but rather made all these promises freely. Jacob says I’ll keep 90% and give you 10%. So from what position is he haggling? Are there other gods lining up offering him other goods and services? Perhaps he is trying to keep his options open in case he gets a better offer before the journey is over. At any rate, I say this to illustrate that his Intentionality is far from perfect. His motivation is suspect; his thoughts are less than pure; his commitment is reserved at best. It is not even clear if he believes in this Lord or god. It is not like he hasn’t heard all about him from his father Isaac and his granddad Abraham. He still is keeping his options open.

Today Jacob is revered right up there with Abraham and Isaac. In fact God himself is defined in terms of these three guys. He is called the god of Abraham Isaac and Jacob.

And it is the same for us. I really want to emphasize this. We do not have to believe in God; we do not have to even believe in Intentionality in order to practice it. One certainly does not have to believe in Always Land, as I have named “heaven” or “home” or “the other side of the veil” in my children’s story today. So how does one practice Intentionality and create sacred space? I do think we can learn from this passage in Genesis. First we assign meaning to our experiences. (This is the “think happy thoughts part of Peter Pan which I talked about in the children’s story.) Secondly, we set our mind to the highest reaches of love and healing (or whatever we want to create in the space.) Thirdly we create a ritual to bring our intention out of our minds into this three dimensional dense world, and we define that space. One can add if one wishes some clearing of the space in the beginning, and some ongoing maintenance of the space at the end, and that is basically all there is to it. So in summary:

Frame of mind + High resolve + action in this three dimensional world = Intentionality.

Intentionality is a creative process. When we set our intentions in the ways I have just described, we create something powerful in the world. The Universe rushes in to manifest whatever it is that we have set in motion.

In preparation for this talk, I did some research on Intentionality and Consciousness. These are really important concepts in philosophy, and there is much disagreement about them. Some claim that Intentionality comes first and Consciousness is derived from it. Others claim that the two are separate. Another view is that the two are inseparable but consciousness is not derived from Intentionality. Finally, another view is that although consciousness is not derived from Intentionality, it is essential to it. Personally I rather like the notion that Intentionality comes first and that consciousness is derived from it. But I will not spend any more time on the philosophy behind these concepts, as it gets a bit complicated and would probably not be interesting to very many present.

So what do I mean by Intentionality in practice, and what does it have to do with creating sacred space? There is a growing amount of literature that discussed the notion of Intentionality by talking about the process of influencing ourselves and our environments through “putting our mind to it.” Few would argue that one’s Determination to perform a task will strongly affect the likelihood of success of that project. An example would be the person who tried to quit smoking thirty seven times, but failed. Then on the thirty eighth try, she succeeded, because she had “put her mind to it” or had “made up her mind to really do it.” This is what I am referring to as Intentionality. This term is also increasingly being used to describe non-local influences, such as prayer having some measurable effect on events which are occurring elsewhere.

But in its simplest least controversial sense, our intentions guide our actions and our perceptions. Every morning I wake up and say “I renew my commitment to walk in spirit and to create heaven on earth.” This is an example of Intentionality. How does such a thing affect my life? Well, to the extent that I can hold this intention in my consciousness, I may remember to ask of help from my spirit guides. I may notice opportunities to say or do some small kind thing which might make the world a little better place. I may decide that getting angry about something is not necessary and see the other person’s perspective a little better.

There is a handout in your order of Service which some of you have already been looking at. If you look at it in a certain way, you will very clearly see a three dimensional heart appear. Take a few minutes to view it now. Anyone able to see the 3 dimensional heart? I use this image to experientially introduce the idea that things are not always as they seem at first glance. What image is printed on this sheet of paper? Is it an image of a three dimensional heart, or is it a bunch of meaningless squiggles? Or is it both?

In a few minutes, when you view this chalice and the space around it, what will be there? Our children have already begun this process. I now invite all of you to work with me to complete it.

So first of all I would invite all of you to close your eyes and remember a time in your life when all was well with you and the world. Like Jacob, perhaps you had a special dream which you felt as a spiritual experience. Perhaps you had a spiritual awakening. Maybe you had a “near death” experience, and felt that you have been called to stay for a while and complete some important tasks. Perhaps there is a moment in your life when you felt unconditional love from another person. Maybe you can remember a mystical moment, when you were enraptured by a sunset or some other experience of nature. Maybe there was a moment when you had completed an especially difficult task and felt a sense of amazing accomplishment. Please close your eyes and take a moment now to focus on this memory. Bring it into focus now. Remember the sounds you heard at that time, or imagine now what they could have been. Focus on the smells that are associated with this memory. Now allow your body to feel the sensations that you associate with this experience. Focus now on the sights, the colors, the depths, the details that you associate with this experience.

O.K. now I invite you to focus on setting your intention for the highest level of love and beauty and healing energy that will benefit all beings here and all who will enter here in the future. If your eyes are still closed, open them now and please stay with me as we create the ritual that will define this sacred space right now here in this church.

Please turn to number 446 and be prepared to read the invocation for each direction as I indicate.

(Note: at this point Greg led the congregation in a ritual defining the space around the lighted chalice as sacred space.)