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How to Be Your Own Sacred Space

You can cultivate inner harmony wherever you live

William Lister
3 min readDec 27, 2018
A medieval alley in central Florence. Photo by William Lister

You will almost certainly think that sacred space means a ‘place’. It might mean a building to you, like a church or mosque. It might also mean your garden or a favourite walk with all the elements in it which you value or find nourishing. Or it could be a special place or room in your home where you can just sit and ‘be’ without interruption.

The effectiveness of such places is greatly affected by the things you choose to surround yourself with. Every culture on earth has attempted to systematise these aesthetics, from candles and sensory experience to the pseudo-scientific geomancy of the Far East.

“You yourself can be a sacred space”

Living and working in a place like Florence, Italy, it is not difficult to find examples of this reality over many centuries of human history. A simple journey from the inspiring grandeur of the Duomo to the simplicity of a perfect, yet otherwise insignificant piazza where you can sit quietly with your gelato, can provide any one of us the opportunity we need to engage with our personal spirituality.

But sacred space is not just about places. You yourself can be a sacred space. You can explore this idea in many ways, and access it in any place, but…

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William Lister
William Lister

Written by William Lister

Father William Lister is a former military chaplain, author and chef. He is a serving chaplain for the Diocese in Europe in Tuscany, Italy. twinclianpress.com

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