The Rev Lezley Stewart urges readers to look for sacred space in their lives.

THE other day I was scurrying around and juggling a number of things, both mentally and physically, and trying to achieve a few things on the move.

I was so unaware of my surroundings that it took a car horn to alert me to danger.

When I stop to think about it, it’s a bit silly and a recipe for a disaster! Do I really want to become one of those people who get knocked down by a bus because I had my eyes glued to a phone screen? No, I don’t think so.

But because of all my scurrying and juggling I did lose something – an item of personal importance to me, which I presumed I had dropped in the street.

Feelings of annoyance at myself followed.

I usually take good care of my possessions, so it wasn’t so much the loss of the item but an irritation at my carelessness. A day later, how pleased I was to find that the lost item was just “temporarily misplaced” – I’d actually dropped it in the car on the way home rather than in the street, so all was well again.

However, it brought to mind a number of things for me. First of all the Parable of the Lost Coin and that wonderful story of how when you’ve lost something you experience such joy when you find it again, and how Jesus told that story amongst other parables to explain the love and grace of God. I wonder how often we reflect on this joy of being known and found in God?

It also brought to mind one of my favourite poems by William Henry Davies: What is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare…. and just how easy it is to lose that ability to see and sustain balance in things. Rather than being concerned at the loss of an item in my possession, I should be more concerned for my safety and for the loss of equilibrium in my life.

One of things I often wonder about in Christian life is how we reclaim the notion of Sabbath in the midst of an altered and often frenetic pace of life.

Gone are the days when things were differently shaped on the Lord’s Day, but I still wonder about how we cultivate sacred space in the life of faith.

It seems to me that Sabbath should be about that which gives life, and brings to fruition the promises of Christ of life in fullness – the space to feed our souls, and deepen our relationship with the Creator and all around us.

In ministry I’m often aware of how stretched folk can be, and one of the first things that goes is time for one another and for the encounters that sustain life better. This can be true of both ministers and church members, and patience then sometimes wears thin.

In Abraham Joshua Heschel’s ground breaking book Sabbath, written in 1951 he describes the Sabbath as a “cathedral in time”.

I think this is a fascinating invitation for each of us to contemplate where we find that cathedral space in the midst of our daily lives. Where do we create the space and the encounters that lead to the flourishing of life?

At least if we allow ourselves the time to think about such questions, then we are beginning to source the answer……

The Rev Lezley Stewart is Associate Minister at Edinburgh: Greyfriars Kirk.