We all get caught up in the day to day activities of our lives. The house, car, clothes, phones and cable TV we thought we needed require more of our income than we planned. Kids and pets and family members are always competing for our attention. The internet follows us during our waking hours, and we fall into bed exhausted each day. And don’t even mention politics.

There’s a saying; “The one who dies with the most toys wins.” Is this all there is to life? An unending struggle for stuff? Rushing from one thing to the next? Being bombarded by news and advertisements and people wanting our attention? Is there no place to stop and examine life? Is there no sanctuary?

Spiritualism calls on its followers to find silence.

Silence is a sanctuary, a place to communicate with not only departed ones but with yourself. It might be found in a small room in a cabin on a mountain lake, a bedroom in a high-rise apartment, or a flower garden in the backyard. But it can also be found while sitting on a seat of a crowded bus, driving home on the highway, or while walking through the grocery store. Your sanctuary is internal and with you always.

Gordon Burroughs said, “We enter the sacred sanctuary to communicate with the inner self, the exhaustless, Everlasting Eternal part of ourselves. The I AM. This real person has always been and has passed through cycles upon cycles of manifestation, making a record of all experiences and manifesting now in this Objective form.”

Spiritualism teaches that while we live in our physical body and create things in this world, we also create a temple in the invisible realm. No matter what we believe or what religion we embrace, this inner sanctuary is created by our inner thoughts and actions, not by our outward manifestations. What type of temple are you building? Is it one with solid walls, a beautiful garden, and welcoming entrance. Or is it abandoned, desolate and rundown?

It is when we enter the silence that we take stock of ourselves and reach beyond our physical world.  We achieve a high state of awareness in which we are open to true illumination.  We discover how beautiful this sanctuary can become. Our consciousness becomes attuned to the real self. Infinite love understands the need of the individual. We find that we can build a temple of joy, hope, and tolerance. We realize that our purpose in life is to learn, to accomplish, and to experience. We see the divine spark in every human being.

When you enter the silence, relax, listen, love, and receive. The troubles of the day will disappear and your problems will dissolve. You will find that you are cared for, guided, and directed, and that you are living both now and for eternity.