Making Space

Sam here.

When I first began taking time to be alone with God a number of years ago, the joy of God's presence led me to reflect upon its long absence. "How have I been a Christian for so long and yet rarely spent any intentional time with the God I claim to love?" That question rang starkly between my ears.

I realized that up until that point in my spiritual life, my Christian faith was like a large beautiful building, with an ornate façade and stain glass windows. Beautiful on the outside, but when you walked through the front doors, the lights were off with no one to be found. Vacant. That was a good word to describe the substance (or lack thereof) of my faith.

But as I persisted in taking time to just be with God, I experienced what followers of Jesus throughout the centuries have experienced and what Jesus himself demonstrated - that when we take the time to make space, God can always be trusted to come and fill that space with his presence and his love.

The MARK Centre exists to lead people to intimate places with God where his voice can be heard. As I learned on my journey, the first step towards that happening is simply making space.

So that's what we do - we make space. Through our chalet, our retreats, events, spiritual direction, facilitation, listening experiences, we make space for people to encounter the God who loves them.

As this year comes to an end, I invite you to ask yourself how you can make space for God.

Maybe it's booking a retreat at our chalet for yourself or a friend. Maybe it's twenty minutes in your bedroom closet. Maybe it's a morning in our rooftop prayer space.

Maybe it's even simpler - turning off the music. Putting down the phone. Closing the book. Truly letting everything in yourself come to a complete standstill and embracing the experience of just being - in all its painful un-comfortability.

Whatever it is - you can trust that when you make space, God will meet you there. You will find pain, but you will also find healing. You will encounter sadness, yet from it you may be surprised by joy. 

And remember, we exist to help you on this journey! If you feel stuck, or you don't know where to begin, reach out to us.   

And as always, if you believe in what we're doing, your support really does make a difference. From the beginning, the work of the MARK Centre has always relied on the generosity of ordinary people who have experienced this intimacy with God and want it for others.