God's Rooms

I was looking around Locust and Honey's Weekly Roundup of blogs, and found an entry on Everyday Theology about locking the church building. I really don't want to get into a discussion of whether the church building ought to be locked or not -- maybe in another post.

As I read that post, I thought of a Mission in the Carmel area of California. We were on a bus tour of the Monterey / Carmel area of the state during a visit to San Francisco. Almost as an afterthought, the bus driver stopped at this mission. We had maybe 15 minutes to walk around -- probably even less time than that. I walked into the church as we rushed through. Someone was playing something on the organ -- practice, perhaps. Have you ever walked into a room and felt the presence of God? Is there something about the dedication of a "sanctuary" to the purpose of worshipping God that "paints" it with God's presence? When I walked into the Mission, I could almost feel a tangible essence of God. I wasn't expecting it, but I remember it even now -- several years later.

When we did the prayer vigil at church over the weekend of Holy Week, the chapel, which was set aside those few hours for prayer, seemed to me to become a Holy spot. Am I just imagining it, or can a space feel like God is breathing in it?

Sometimes when I walk into our Sanctuary, when everything is quiet and empty, it feels like a Holy Place.

I know that God can be encountered anywhere. I know that God walks with us each day, in every location. I know that I do not need to be in "church" to pray or to "commune" with God. In fact, my car is a particular place that I often find God. Even so, the front seat of my car doesn't seem to be a particularly Holy place most of the time. (Maybe if it were a Mercedes?)

Is it just the architecture that makes the Sanctuary seem like a dwelling place of God? Habit (since that is where I worship each Sunday?) Is it the decorations -- the pews, the altar, the chancel rail?

Or is it true that certain Holy places seem to become sponges of God's spirit? That sometimes the walls of a chapel can seem to drip with God? That the air in a room dedicated to the worship of God can hold the weight of God?

Am I imagining it? Or does God make habit of indwelling in particular places?