Article September 21, 1946 Issue

The Sanctuary

KATHRYN PAULSON

When one thinks of a sanctuary one envisages a place consecrated to solitude and silence, untouched by social, business, or family demands. In the midst of pressure and clamor one thinks of it yearningly and longs to find such a place in which to put off worldliness and commune quietly with God. This desire is entirely legitimate; we all need time in which to be alone with our Maker. But we need to remember that what makes a sanctuary is not a material place, but one's own consciousness of the ever–presence of God. Mary Baker Eddy makes this clear when she states in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 150), "If He be with us, the wayside is a sanctuary, and the desert a resting–place peopled with living witnesses of the fact that 'God is Love.'"

Many Christian Scientists find it helpful to study early in the morning the Lesson–Sermon from the Quarterly so wisely founded by our dear Leader. This may be, and often is, the only time a student has in which he is completely alone, when his thought can be given uninterruptedly to God. He finds that in proportion to his early establishment of his sense of unity with the Father, his day unfolds in orderly progression. He becomes more aware of Love's constant vitalizing presence, expresses greater wisdom, alertness, and perspicacity, and is helped to enter the sanctuary of prayer at any time and anywhere.

Christ Jesus often spent whole nights in prayer or arose early and sought the solitude of the mountaintop for undisturbed communion with his Father, thus preparing himself for the constant demands made upon his spiritual understanding. These quiet times of spiritual refreshment enabled him to realize instantly the presence and power of true being where disease, hatred, confusion, or death appeared to be. Mrs. Eddy states a great fact, and one susceptible of individual demonstration, when, referring to Jesus and his disciples, she writes in "Retrospection and Introspection" (p. 91), "When he was with them, a fishing–boat became a sanctuary, and the solitude was peopled with holy messages from All–Father."

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