My wife Betty and I have visited sites around the world that have been regarded by people down through the ages as being of an historic and sacred significance. I have lost count of the number of cathedrals we have visited that have formed in us an anticipation to seek moments of peace and quiet from the busy world outside their walls.
I vividly remember the anticipation I had of visiting St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Whilst there, I recognised I would be following in the footsteps of my father who used to attend the Choral Evensong services at 5 pm when he was in London. This cathedral is full of English history and sacred icons. As I walked around this sacred edifice it was filled with many tourists quietly viewing what was there, as well as meditating in private. It was here that I felt the aura and significance that this cathedral had played and was continuing to play in the lives of so many people down through the ages since 604 AD.
I also recall having the opportunity to visit St. Bernadette’s Grotto in Lourdes France, a place regarded as historic, sacred and a place of healing. We joined a long queue, mainly of ill and disabled people, waiting with anticipation to experience something sacred at the Grotto. Upon reaching the Grotto, each one of the people in the queue reached out their hands to touch a large stone in the hope they would be blessed and healed from their afflictions.
David summed up this period of anticipation we are able to experience very well in the following quote from Psalms: “Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for Him to act…Don’t fret and worry…But all who humble themselves before the Lord shall be given every blessing and shall have wonderful peace.” (Psalm 37:7a, 8b, 11 TLB)
In his book Hope, Tim Costello a minister of religion and one of Australia’s leading voices on social justice tells of his experiences of anticipation as he visited places of historic sacred significance. He recalls visiting the magnificent Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Shwedagon Buddhist Temple in Yangon and the Faisal mosque in Islamabad. Costello observes about these visits, that although his anticipation was great as he visited these sites it seemed that “my experience of the sacred was never commensurate with my anticipation, given the significance of these sites.”
He goes on to say, “Yet in places most pedestrian and poor, and where it is least expected, I have at times been overwhelmed with awe at the sense of the presence of something greater. Being taken by surprise is almost always the universal element in the experience of God and grace for me.”
There is no fixed rule that says we can only meet our God in significant sacred sites or in our churches, God’s presence abounds all around us and within us.
There were times when Jesus needed to get away from the pressures of ministry being placed upon him. He felt the need to be with his Heavenly Father with the anticipation to receive a renewal in spirit.
There have been times where I have been called to minister to people who have had great needs. They have been suffering either from an illness, the loss of a loved one or needing special blessings. As I have prepared for these experiences I have anticipated the Holy Spirit being present. In every instance my anticipation has been rewarded by the presence of something greater than I could ever bring.
From my experience it would seem that we need to take the initiative and step out to meet the Divine. It takes patience, persistence and discipline to overcome our old patterns of living and thinking. It takes patience for the new thought patterns and mental attitudes to take over in order for us to become new creations in Christ.
Whenever you feel the need to connect with your God, do so in anticipation that He is already there waiting for you to receive the blessing of His presence.
Bill Gillard