“Cultivating Sacred Space” week 5: Encountering Sacred Space in the Other
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
1. What was your personal experience with the prayer practice from last week: “A Practice of Being”? What seemed to work for you and what was not so helpful? Is this a practice you
could see yourself using in the future?
2. What insights did you gain from the message this past Sunday? What was most helpful for you? What did you find uncomfortable?
3. The message suggested that when we are encountering people who are different than us, that there are three postures that might experience this encounter as sacred space:
equality, reverence, and love. Which of the three of these postures tend to come most naturally to you? Which are the most difficult to accomplish?
4. Which kinds of differences do you feel can be safely approached with postures of equality, reverence and love? Which differences need special or different kinds of attention?
5. Take some time to do this week’s prayer practice (see below) together has a group. It’s written so someone can read it out loud as a guide. Afterwards, discuss how it went and
plan to practice it on your own during the week.
Prayer Practice for the week:
- Consider a time when you felt jarred by disagreement or a sense of alienation from someone
- If it is safe, bring that person or situation to mind
- Breathe
- Remember, first, that God encounters you: in your breath, in the ground that holds us. God encounters us with compassion.
- What might it feel like to consider that person as equal to you and you to them? What are you curious about the way they see and act in the world?
- Take a moment to reflect on the presence of God in your encounters with that person? Reflect on their status as bearers of the image of God. How does this change your approach to that person or situation?
- Take a moment to invite God to create something new in you in this situation, even if you don’t know what that new thing might be
- Finally, as you breathe, hold that person in love. Remember that the same love and compassion with which God holds you also holds them.
- After spending time with God and the situation, offer it back to God.
- Amen.