Where do you go where you feel more yourself than any other place?
Maybe you just want to sit by a window, in front of a personal altar, amongst some woods, or even in your garden. Perhaps you want to create a beautiful space by enriching your home or room with items that celebrate the loveliness of life.

These, and many similar experiences, have something in common. They require us to go within ourselves to find peace, compassion, or renewed reverence for life. They do not ask us to find escape from the world, but to find room for spiritual renewal within it. The one word that best describes these experiences is sanctuary.

Each day we need to give ourselves the grace to find those islands of time and space to reclaim an inner sense of peace, empowerment, and compassion. We need daily waysides to "recharge the batteries," receive creative inspiration, engage in quiet reflection, or to offer comfort to another. We need to value certain periods of time and places in our life as if they were sacred gifts we make for ourselves for inner renewal.

Sanctuary is where we perform the job of taking care of our soul. The care of our own sense of spirit - the loving care of our soul - is perhaps the most challenging aspect of living on Earth today. Each day should be about finding balance - between our absorption with the world and our need to find relief amidst it. Sanctuary allows us to receive a gift of grace each day - sacred time and space to quench our thirst for peace. Clearly, when we are at peace, even for just a moment, somehow the world appears more sacred. And we stand ready then to pour forth our reverence.