Your Altar

There are some places that effect an immediate change in our mood. For some it is the sweet scented pine laden forest. For others, the chiseled canyons or expansive sea.
No matter how many times we've been there,
we always come back refreshed.

In our home too, there are places for visiting, places for sleeping, and work areas. The moment we step into these spaces, we naturally slip into what they were intended for.

We go through great lengths to prepare a table setting for a special person, to arrange a room that is conducive to visiting with loved ones, or a workshop where
every tool is handy and well ordered.

How much more valuable is a dedicated space for the banquet of our souls and the Guest of all guests, a designated space for intensified and protected time with God. A place where Sacred Scripture and books of holy encouragement and character formation are close at hand, with nothing worldly to catch our eye.

Our private altars are places of retreat, purification, spiritual nourishment, and birthing of precious souls through intercession. And most importantly, a place where every other voice is drowned out by
the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit.

We pray that our hearts be in continual dialogue with God, no matter where we are. The Scriptures tell us to pray unceasingly, yet there is a time for intensified communion even as Jesus went away into the desert to pray, there is a very real time to draw away from all the voices of this world,
to seek His face, to adore Him and
listen to Him very carefully.

This space should be unlike any other place in the house, a place that is uniquely private and individual, reflecting those particular aspects of His creation that bring us joy, whether austere in their simplicity or colorful as reminders of the beauty He has deliberately planned and created to console us in our long and difficult journey.