PARKING LOTS: SANCTUARY, REFUGE, HAVEN

Some of you might notice this coming Sunday we have one less plastic bottle of water in our inventory.

On Wednesday evening, before I was leaving to go to my soccer game, I watched as a car pulled into our lot. As they pulled in it looked like their car was packed to the hilt with blankets and pillows, all white and pressed against the back windows. 

As they turned to park, I saw the rear of their car had been smashed. Those white pillows and blankets were the side air bags, deployed. An Asian man, his wife and 2 children got out of the car, clearly shaken. I stopped and asked if I could help but they were discombobulated, unsure what to do. I am sure it didn't help that I was dressed in my soccer attire not looking at all priestly.

After navigating with them that I was ok and not going to deport them, I asked if they would like some water or if they needed to use the bathroom. It was difficult to get through the language barrier, and on top of that, they were quite anxious about what had just happened, rightly so.

I walked back into the Church and brought out a bottle of water and some cups. I offered it to them and they received it happily and with many thank you's.

St. Ed's parking lot is a sanctuary for many people. Police, fire, ambulance, Xcel, Gilbert, countless tree trimming companies. I can't even tell you how often I see people just randomly sitting around waiting for kids or eating lunch.

Our parking lot is a sanctuary. I looked up synonyms and some other words become better suited for this space on our property: refuge; haven; bolthole. That last one is just funny, but refuge and haven seem to be better descriptions of what people find in our parking lot.

It's a great metaphor we can consider as well. People are really comfortable in their cars, their personal spaces, it takes energy and courage to step out and look around sometimes. No matter how comfortable or welcoming we make our Church space, or the garden spaces, it will always be difficult to pull people out of their cars into spaces that they might find just as comfortable or reassuring or safe.

It is likewise difficult for each of us who find the space of the sanctuary or the gathering room a refuge or haven for ourselves to leave it and venture into the parking lot, taking our welcome and our prayers out that way. When I or Chip ask you to be bold and to take risks, we often are not asking you to jump off a bridge. Rather we are expressing our desire to take a different route, to look out into the parking lot, rather than into the gathering room. If we can't take risks, show that we are bold, courageous and willing to step out of our regular routines, we can't expect others to do so either.

In the end, the real cost may only be a plastic bottle.