Sanctuarium

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will never be shaken.

Psalm 62:2

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Hello Friend.

It’s been a while since our last visit.

Life has been a little busy around here, but I always love when you drop by. Here in my little corner of the world, the snow has begun. First, specks so tiny you wondered where the white on the ground was coming from. Then big flakes, like crumbs of sticky cake floating and falling.

Now, the ground lies under a heavy mantle that whiffs and whirls in the white wind. It’s the perfect cozy afternoon for tea and apple pie. I’ll pour while you choose a slice, or two.

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You know that little piece of property I told you about? I’ve been writing about our journey with it. Would you be interested in following along?

Get comfortable and let me read you what I’ve got so far.

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On this visit, we turn into the approach and immediately my eyes go to the new driveway. It inclines and wraps around … what? That pile of dirt there that’s the foundation for the garage? Anyway, the driveway is new on this visit.

We snap photos and videos that pan the length of our property while Excavator Ben delicately picks up rocks the size of my dining room table with his bucket, and places them precisely – oh so precisely – one on top of another to build a retaining wall. He uses that bucket like fingers and thumb, gingerly lifting rocks as though they were mere pebbles and not thousand-pound boulders. I stand mesmerized and watch him work. This is an exceptional skill, I realize, and as I look at Ben’s face through the large windows of the cab enclosure I see … he loves his job.

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The rocks have come from The Land itself, dug up to make room for a walk-out basement. There are hundreds of these boulders, and even more below the dig level. One of the excavators tells us we will have a solid foundation; that once built, this house won’t move. We are building on rock.

My mind turns to the Sunday School song I learned as a child … The wise man built his house upon a rock … and the house on the rock stood firm. As a child, I didn’t know that the rock in the song is symbolic: God, the solid rock on which to anchor a life.

That day in 2013, when we first set eyes on the place, there were hints of what lay below the rolling green that covered almost three acres. They were stacked at the door of the big shop built by the previous owner, and walled up to make a flowerbed. There were flat, shale-like crests here and there, skimming the lawn.

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But we didn’t really pay attention to that at the time. We only wanted to know, was this The Land that God had asked us to purchase? I went for a walk in the little wood on the property, and when I emerged I knew, with the same certainty I’d known on November 4, 2008 that I’d heard the whisper, We need to buy land.

Yes, after months of searching, this was it.

So we bought it, not knowing if we were meant to live there or just hold onto it. Because when the faithful Rock to whom you’ve anchored your life asks something of you, you do it.

We took care of it and enjoyed it; we shared it and prayed over it. We loved it. One day, we sensed we’d been given permission to build a home. And not just a home, but a sanctuary; a safe place for weary and wounded souls to breathe before continuing on their personal journeys.

This has always been the dream.

Only, we didn’t know that the rocks would be part of it.

What to do with all those rocks! Excavator Ben built a retaining wall. And The Cowboy had ideas for the rest of them: rock gardens and strategically placed barriers around the perimeter of the property. Slowly it began to dawn on us that rocks have a significant meaning for this place. This is not coincidental. It’s a beautiful interweaving design of symbolism and safety.

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For He will conceal me in His shelter in the day of adversity; He will hide me under the cover of His tent; He will set me high on a rock.

Psalm 27:5

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The Cowboy was telling friends about this momentous realization one day when they visited the skeleton of the house soon to be a home; how we’ve been drawn to the story of Moses being placed in the cleft of the rock and covered by God’s hand while God passed by. Imagine, he said, what it must have been like to be covered by God’s hand, there, in the safety of the rock. So warm and safe. The safest you’ve ever felt. He told them about how our dream for this place is Sanctuary for all who enter. Built on rock, surrounded by rock – a safe place.

That’s when I knew we’d found the name we’d been searching for. The name for this sanctuary. It’s The Cleft. And if those who come to it find a little bit of the warmth and safety that Moses must have felt in the shelter of God’s hand, our dream for this place will have been realized.

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Thanks for coming along on this journey today. Stay safe out there, and see you next time.

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Then the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.

Exodus 33:21-22

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Featured Image by Karl Egger from Pixabay