I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Wisdom Council member Michael Moore’s reflection on sanctuary and safe spaces.
When I first became acquainted with the Abbey and Christine’s writing; I was a newly retired Air Force Chaplain living in the Florida Panhandle and making my way back into parish ministry after 21 years of active-duty military ministry. When Denise and I were looking for a house one of the important ingredients we wanted in our home was a sense of sanctuary. We found that in the house that we bought out in the country. The back deck overlooked a backyard which was bordered by trees and undeveloped land. We transformed what had been an indoor patio into a space for prayer, reflection, and study. It was a beautiful and sacred space where we could pause and simply breathe.
Shortly after I moved in, a male and female gray fox pair moved in. They loved to romp and play on the deck and the deck furniture, and they brought us so much joy as we watched them. They got used to us and wouldn’t run off when I came into the prayer room. The next spring, mama brought her new kit onto the deck and let it explore. The spring after that, she brought out two kits to meet us. The spring after we were married and Denise moved into the house; mama introduced us to her three kits. They were born and raised underneath our deck! She would nurse the kits on the back patio, and this little family brought us a lot of joy. At some point Denise did some research, and we found out that if a mama fox feels safe in a space, she will have more kits. It warmed our hearts to realize that we were offering the fox family a safe space, a sanctuary space for them to live and where the kits could grow up. By the time we left Florida so that I could take a new call at a church in the Rocky Mountains mama had five kits to show to us.
We learned about a whole new type of sanctuary space during the five years we spent in Estes Park, Colorado (the gateway to The Rocky Mountain National Park). We embraced the mountain life which included the beauty of the snow falling gently as we watched from our living room, the elk, the deer, the rabbits, and the bobcat who lived in our neighborhood. Going into the park itself was a treat and I would often go into the park just to simply be still after a busy day at the church. Denise and I loved the beautiful sanctuary where we saw a baby elk being born and then taking its first steps before nuzzling mama and having its first meal.
A safe space / sanctuary space is so important for all of God’s children. Safe space is essential to our overall spiritual, physical, emotional, and psychological health. When I was in the Air Force, my office was a safe space for anybody, regardless of rank. It didn’t matter who they were or what their faith “identity” was, my office was a safe space where the individual could talk about anything without fear. What we discussed stayed in the office. It was much the same in parish ministry. In the parish, a safe space was so important for my parishioners as I walked with them through the ups and downs of life. When COVID hit in 2020, safe space had to take on a new virtual form. That didn’t stop the church from being a community of faith, it just changed the way we did things. We created new opportunities for ministry and new ways of providing safe spaces for people.
Over the course of this journey with the Abbey and The Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks have become a safe space to explore things like sabbath rest, thresholds, and thin places that continue to challenge and encourage me. Taking these lessons from the Abbey and the lessons that I have learned from both military and parish ministry experiences, I am contemplating what’s next for Denise and me. When my dad passed through the veil in 2023, we realized that in addition to full-time ministry, we had been taking care of our parents and walking with them through the final years of their lives for seven years. We had been caring for others for so long and we were burned out. We realized that it was time to take care of ourselves.
I don’t know what the future holds for us in this world of chaos and upheaval. It has been particularly difficult for me to watch what is going on in the US and in the military where I served for so many years. Figuring out how to live in this world fraught with so much hatred, fear, pain, and brokenness is a challenge.
I am grateful for the safe space created by my fellow monks in the world and our Abbey of the Arts community.
Michael Moore is a retired USAF Chaplain and a retired pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA) who currently lives in Mobile, Alabama with his wife and partner in life and ministry, Denise. His undergraduate degree is in Business Administration (University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire) and he earned his Master of Divinity degree from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities (Saint Paul, MN). He served two small, yoked Presbyterian Churches in rural Fergus Falls, MN for three years before going on Active Duty with the USAF for 21 years. Following his retirement from the Air Force, he served churches in Florida, Colorado, Georgia, and Alabama. He has a Certificate in Christian Spiritual Formation from Columbia Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA.
A writer and photographer, you can find him blogging at ScotsIrishPadre.blog or at Godspace as a member of that community.
