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the secret beauty of sand

Tuesday, June 9th, 2015

We’re thankful for being given permission to make co-founder Liz Baddaley’s new allegorical short story for all ages – The Secret Beauty of Sand – available on the Sanctuary’s website. We’re also excited to be able to tell you that, just as with its sister story The Blossom-Maker, we will soon be turning it into an art of love made known window at our centre. Watch this space…

sand low res

Meanwhile, here’s a bit more about the story behind this story – what inspired it and the deeper meaning it’s pointing to:

The Secret Beauty of Sand was written earlier this year after it’s author discovered the amazing truth that every grain of sand is unique. Magnified just 110-250 times their true colours and shapes come through… take a look at some of Dr Gary Greenberg’s microphotography of it here.

The Bible regularly uses a shore full of grains of sand as a metaphor or shorthand picture for a number too big to get your head round…

The people were as many as the grains of sand on a seashore… God’s loving thoughts towards each one of us are as many as the grains of sand on a seashore…

All numbers too huge to be visualised.

Here’s a number from today that’s too big to get your head round. 7 billion. Its how many people are alive in the world today.And just like the grains of sand – each one is completely unique.

It’s quite a staggering thought! And it’s the secret meaning of what this story that’s seemingly about sand is really getting at…

Well that and the extraordinary Beauty they are all merely just a small glimpse and reflection of.

Are you sitting comofortably? Then let’s begin…

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the source of all new life

Wednesday, April 1st, 2015

We’ve just put the finishing touches to our outreach window for Easter…

living water window

The sign next to the over-flowing well seeks to put our Easter symbols of new life into perspective next to the source and the centre of the whole story of Holy Week.

living water window sign

“Jesus says he’s like living water – the source of all new life. He says trusting him is like drinking fresh water that becomes a well-spring in you – bubbling up and bringing new life for always. (Our experience it really does feel like that.)”

View previous window art at www.thesantuarycentre.org/theartoflovemadeknown

Tonight we’re finishing our term with Awaken the Dawn – a night of prayer for the UK to rediscover what Easter morning means… one of the key inspirations for this is the statistics released by the Bible Society last year about just how many children do not know – and even haven’t heard – the Easter story.

This window is part of our prayer – as well as an invitation in itself – that please God he would help us to make the source of love known to our nation again.

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art of love made known: closer than you think

Tuesday, December 9th, 2014

Our new creative outreach window has been up since Monday 1 December. It’s hard to capture fully on a smaller scale but its already been getting a lot of attention from intrigued drivers and passers by. 

advent 2014 window dark low res

After all, it’s not every day you see such a motley collection of pots and pans, tools, books and other strange props mixed up with the more usual Christmas icons…

But of course, as you come closer the text in the window links all these seemingly unconnected elements together:

‘Seeing an angel on the A65 might seem strange to you but…

‘Mary was doing chores at home when she met God’s messenger.

‘The shepherds were outdoors when everything lit up for them.

‘Joseph was taking a break from work when God spoke to him in a dream.

‘The wise men were studying when they first noticed the star.

‘Together they all met Jesus – God himself – in what was pretty much just a shed.

‘2000 years ago a collection of ordinary people were doing their usual everyday things when God came close to them than they could have ever imagined was possible.

‘Ever since then, billions of other ordinary people have met God in surprisingly everyday places too.

‘Where might God meet you this Christmas?’

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Emmanuel. God with us. In our normal lives; in our everyday places; in our noise and silence; in our busyness and quiet; in our stench and beauty. He has come. He is coming. He will come.

It’s our prayer that many people passing our window will understand something of this in a new or deeper way this Christmas.

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made to glow

Thursday, October 30th, 2014

We’re thrilled to share some photos of our new window. It’s already turning heads and stopping families in their tracks. Thank you so much to Alison Hodson who lovingly designed and gave us our 7ft glowing angel…

window

Crafted by the Light to reflect it; repaired by the Light to carry it; inspired by the Light to be it and beam it. We are made to glow.

angel

angel wings

pumpkin fairy lights

angel close up

pumpkin fairy lights x3

pumpkins small window

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the blossom-maker

Tuesday, October 7th, 2014

We’re thrilled to share our new story window online as well as with those who drive or walk past it physically…

Blossom maker full window low res

October sees the Literature Festival dominating Ilkley and so it seemed like the perfect time to ‘publish’ our story window.

The Blossom-Maker is a short story for all ages written by Liz Baddaley – co-founder of the Sanctuary, which we are praying will touch and bless many of the people who will walk or drive past it over the coming weeks.

It is inspired by the beautiful poetry of Isaiah 61 and the Sanctuary’s wrestling with the importance of God’s beauty and was written several months later during a very difficult personal season for the author.

The result is a dynamic, allegorical story whose language and meter move with a dance-like whirling pace – just like the discarded blossom which was shaken and lifted like a snow-globe outside the window of the Sanctuary the May before. (See the blog link above for more details.)

It celebrates God’s creativity, his compassion, his redemption, renewal and transformation. And above all his beauty. As the story puts it, the Blossom-Maker can’t help it… ‘everywhere he walks there’s blossom in his wake’.

We’re thrilled to be sharing the story through our window as part of our vision to see art make love know and are looking forward to filling our other, smaller window during the coming weeks with testimonies of people’s experiences meeting the Blossom-Maker themselves.

And those of us who were there that day in May when the blossom danced outside the window, can’t quite believe the similarity of the effect we have managed to reflect ourselves… as ever, it’s less dynamic and stunning than the blossom dance God created… but hopefully it’s still a glimpse – an invitation for people passing by to respond to the invitation of God’s beauty and renewal.

For a short time only, while the story is in the window, Liz has kindly given us permission to make the story  available through our website too. So you can download it here. We hope you are as blessed by it as we all have been.

There are so many thank yous to people who have helped make this possible in different ways from creative advice on making giant books to constructing them to editing down the story to sewing strings of petal together!

Alison Hodson, Barbara Macnish, Emily and Izzy Tysoe, Sandra Wade, Ann Clark, Jill Andrews, Steve Proudlove and of course Liz – who has been willing to share something so precious to her with us. Thank you all so much.

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God’s beauty on tour…

Monday, June 30th, 2014

We are into the week leading up to Le Grand Départ of Le Tour de France coming through Yorkshire and… past our front door! On Friday night we’re running a special outreach international service – Bienvenue! – together with our neighbours at All Saints’ Church Ilkley.

tour window

Every day this week, we’ll be publishing an inspiring extract from the service. Today, we’re starting at home with the reflection, ‘God’s beauty on tour in Yorkshire’ – a locally inspired reflection on a global truth which also forms the current theme of our window out on to the route!

Psalm 19 in The Message says God’s glory – his beauty and his light – is on tour in the skies. That unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.

It feels like that truth is shouted here it gets so loud sometimes. So beautiful and bold. And you wonder how anyone could miss it – his hallmarked handiwork here. A gloriously deafening display of 360 degree panoramic colour that proclaims He is ALIVE. And GOOD. So good.

This truth cascades down from hills rising high with majesty and says “God is strong. Rock solid reliable. Trust him.”

It gurgles and bubbles up in streams that sometimes trickle and flow but then all of a sudden are rivers gushing and weirs almost roaring it out – “Come to the living water. He’s here. Drink deep and you’ll never go thirsty again. There’s enough and to over-flowing. Come.”

It whispers in the quiet of the spring’s bluebell-blush when you steal away for a quiet walk in the wood. But it’s still loud even there. For everything is stilled and you can hear it clearer. The still small voice that says “I am here and if I clothed these flowers with so much care, will I not also provide for you?”

And on the tops? Well up there in the wind-whip and the heather heart-land it just feels certain in a deeper way. His presence. His perspective. And you’re breathing it all in. And then it’s in surround-sound and its singing over you, “all will be well my child. All will be well”.

How could we not praise him here? When it sometimes feels like the rocks are already crying out. And all we have to do is barely listen and look for a moment to feel our hearts already responding, sometimes before we even realise to who they’re singing. “In awesome wonder we see this. In amazement we consider this. And then when we think the Creator of all this gave his life for us… and well, Saviour God here it is. Our spoken truth – how great you are, HOW GREAT YOU ARE!”

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art of love made known – seeing in part (again)

Thursday, April 17th, 2014

We’ve just created – or should that be adapted? – this piece of artwork for our Easter window display. We’re praying it will speak to people’s hearts deeply, because it’s definitely written from ours…

getting in the way of Jesus

The text on the artwork reads:

We are sorry when we get in the way of you seeing Jesus

– Sorry – for when we say one thing and do another.

– Sorry – for when we’re so busy disagreeing with each other about stuff that we put you off thinking about big stuff like who is Jesus, and does he really matter?

– Sorry – for the times we’re so busy with ‘churchy’ stuff that we don’t even take the time to tell you why we believe what we believe and how it’s changed our lives.

– Sorry – for the times we’ve used his name to get our way in things that are nothing to do with his will.

– Sorry – for when we are judgemental.

– Sorry – when we get too frightened to talk to you properly about our faith and how important what Jesus did really is.

– Sorry – when we talk about Jesus in a way that’s over-complicated or in ‘Christian-ese’.

– Sorry – when we preach at you instead of listening to what you’re saying.

– Sorry – if we’ve ever made you feel unwelcome.

– Sorry – for anything not on this list that has got in the way of you seeing Jesus without us even noticing.

And most of all, sorry for when we act like it’s us – rather than God – who has all the answers.

Hands up. Christians and churches make lots of mistakes. We aren’t very good at reflecting what Jesus is like a lot of the time. We will keep trying to be better mirrors, but we’re never going to match up to him – and in a funny way, we’re OK with that…

Because the Jesus we’d love you to see… the real one… is matchless. The more we get to know him the more of him there is to find. He’s not judgemental but he is just. Yet he’s an almost reckless forgiver. He is kind but strong  as well. And he really doesn’t like religion. Oh yes, he’s full of surprises! His words make you sit up and listen every time. And he cares – about the micro and the macro. He suffers with us, rejoices with us and changes how we see things for good.

And honestly… Jesus really has changed our lives – and us. He hasn’t made them perfect – and he certainly hasn’t made us perfect! But what he has done is welcome us as friends – imperfect as we are.

Because though we sometimes might seem to suggest something different… being a ‘Christian’ is much more about what Jesus has done than about us or what we’re trying to do.

If we’ve got in the way for you, we are really sorry and that matters. But please consider getting past us and taking a look at Jesus for yourself. He’s more than worth it…

(Thanks to Barbara Macnish and Sarah Baxter from Mosaic Church Leeds, for the loan of the beautiful piece of artwork that made this installation possible.)

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loving God, loving others…

Friday, February 14th, 2014

Today, Valentine’s Day, the Sanctuary’s website is three years old – and to celebrate, we’ve been having great fun at our centre finding new and creative ways to demonstrate God’s love to others.

Loving God, Loving others 11

From the start of the Sanctuary’s journey, our core values – for both the resources we produce and the centre we run – have been all about choosing to love God AND love others… so today, a day focused on love, we wanted to show this love in action.

With a great team from many different local churches, we’ve created a giant art installation covered in prayers “on God’s heart, on our hearts” which is now hanging in the window, catching the eye of passers-by and drivers stopped at the traffic lights.

And we’ve been giving out homemade heart-shaped biscuits to shoppers and staff at local businesses – and even through a bus window to a surprised (but happy) driver!

Here’s how it all happened…

1. The art of love… our artist Barbara creates the giant canvas with God’s heart for the world at the centre:

Loving God, Loving others 1 Loving God, Loving others 2 Loving God, Loving others 3Loving God, Loving others 4 Loving God, Loving others 5

2. Lifting prayers to the God of love… after a time of worship this morning focusing on God’s heart for individuals, people groups, issues, places, and nations, every heart-shaped prayer written in response was pinned to the giant canvas:

Loving God, Loving others 7Loving God, Loving others 6Loving God, Loving others 8

3. A bagful of love… homemade biscuits by eight wonderful bakers from four different churches were bagged, labelled and packed into baskets ready to be taken out in love:

Loving God, Loving others 9Loving God, Loving others 10

4. And finally, the canvas was hung in the window, balloons strung up outside and the love of God was spread throughout the town of Ilkley as our volunteer team of biscuit givers marched out onto the streets with bundles of blessing:

Loving God, Loving others 12

This birthday, and Valentine’s Day, we have been rejoicing in God’s unconditional love for each one of us – and for each one of his 7 billion precious creations.

Our verse for the day has been John 13:34-35 – “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” As we’ve tried to demonstrate the amazing love of Christ by our love of others today, our prayer has been that those others too will know his deep love in new and life-giving ways.

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