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I have been thinking about the word sanctuary over the past few days. The dictionary defines sanctuary as “immunity afforded by refuge in such a place and any place of refuge; asylum and a tract of land where birds and wildlife, especially those hunted for sport, can breed and take refuge in safety from hunters.”
With all of the ups and downs of the last few years, Sanctuary has become very important to me. It is ironic to me that the word sanctuary often means a holy place to us but yet it is often those “holy” places that we need sanctuary from. The so called “holy” places in my life over the last several years have caused me to run many times to find a place of refuge. Sanctuary has come to take many shapes in my life lately. An actual place that I find sanctuary is right in my front yard. In fact we have named it Sanctuary. It’s a small water garden/pond that my family works on every spring and summer. We have moved it two or three times, fish and all. We have planted flowers and water plants and nursed sick fish and sometimes had mass burials for the fish when their “sanctuary” has become defiled by outside sources. Sometimes the sanctuary has become defiled from within. Sometimes the fish produce too much toxic waste and it is fatal to most life forms that live in the Sanctuary. I have found that my other sanctuaries have often been defiled from within, causing toxins that often kill many of us. Toxins come in many forms……..gossip, lies, deceit, control issues…….We run into sanctuary then slowly turn on each other until we find ourselves in need of sanctuary from the very thing we thought would afford us peace and safety.
Above is a picture of our little Sanctuary and you will also find a song, written by me at a time in my life when I needed Sanctuary and found it in friends and family.
