Where do we find sanctuary?

At a recent meeting of the Bristol Spirituality and Disability Forum, we discussed what 'sanctuary' can mean for each one of us.

For some, it is a matter of getting a good balance between finding time for work, for play and for 'down' time which is the sanctuary piece. This may take the form of making a cup of tea slowly and mindfully. Or meditating. Slowing down. Contemplating a mental image. Setting aside specific times to not do and to just be.

For one person, accessing 'sanctuary' can feel a bit like falling in love, with the excitement and sometimes fear mixed in. For another member of the group, there is sanctuary in setting aside a space each working day on arrival at the office to read the morning prayers and to compose a short poem that links with that day's themes.

Using certain external things can help us to feel we approach sanctuary more fully or easily. One of these can be the use of a singing bowl, whose ringing tones when sounded mark out this time as special and set apart, and creates a space. Another can be the lighting of a candle or incense.

Silence can be an essential ingredient as can singing. Singing has a special place for many of us as it is a special time of unity with others, gets us out of our heads, a kind of purposeful meditation, and it involves the body as we let the music go through us.

We also looked more closely at the word 'sanctuary' and how it can mean a place of holiness and safety (refuge, asylum, welcome) but that its very holiness can, for some, mean a kind of otherness and therefore unreachability. This opened up our discussion of how the Christian sacrament of Holy Communion (the 'Eucharist') at the altar rail can be inaccessible to some, and that how the approach to 'sanctuary' within the service can result in alienation due to one's disability.

One person mentioned how Bristol launched last year as a City of Sanctuary and what that might mean in light of our discussion. Also the teachings of Adin Steinsaltz were referred to, especially the book Simple Words: Thinking about what really matters in life.