When introverts go to church, we crave sanctuary in every sense of the word, as we flee from the disorienting distractions of twenty-first-century life. We desire to escape from superficial relationships, trivial communications and the constant noise that pervade our world, and find rest in the probing depths of God's love.

The whole value of solitude depends upon oneself; it may be a sanctuary or a prison, a haven of repose or a place of punishment, a heaven or a hell, as we ourselves make it.

It is a thing that knows no limit, and before it all men are equal; and the silence of king or slave, in presence of death, or grief, or love, reveals the same features, hides beneath its impenetrable mantle the self-same treasure. For this is the essential silence of our soul, our most inviolable sanctuary, and its secret can never be lost;

In a way, the books were protection. An escape she would always have access to.A sanctuary, there for when she needed it.

You are your own sanctuary. Peace always comes from within. Find the things, the thoughts, and perspectives that allow you to cultivate peace within yourself. If you find your spirit disturbed, pull yourself back. Learn yourself. Learn how to manipulate and control your emotional state. Allow yourself to feel all your emotions, but with control, being able to choose when and where. Love yourself enough to create a safe haven of peace within yourself that you can then carry into any situation, into any storm.

Home is supposed to be a place of security, the last resort of refuge.

Sometimes solitude is a real heaven for the tired minds and a marvellous sanctuary for the wounded souls!

...returning to nature has been a dream present in the minds of every generation since mankind first left nature.

My mind became a sanctuary for secret thoughts of escaping from this household.

have a mind so quiet, that you can hear doves whispering as they rest their wings in the rafters your silent sanctuary

I'm not a saint! Thanks God!

God loves each person, I believe; although, just like we do in our private homes, He reserves His kingdom only for those whom He enjoys.

When you turn around, you'll see something I bet you've never seen before. If it takes your breath away, then you'll fit in nicely. If you don't feel anything, then maybe you don't belong here.

I have a system with bathrooms. I spend a lot of time in them. They are sanctuaries, public places of peace spaced throughout the world for people like me.

It is nearly impossible to feel anything negative in here. Because you’re really connected, to everything, here… but it’s only meant to be a temporary sanctuary, a place to remember yourself. In time you’ll want your negative thoughts, your emotional baggage back, and you’ll have hopefully bolstered yourself enough with the Sanctum’s reminder of your Source that you can come out with fresh perspective. When you’ve had enough of it, you’ll know, and then come and join us outside.

Each positive thought is your refuge and your sanctuary, where in that thoughtful moment, you are safe.

Perhaps the most important thing we bring to another person is the silence in us, not the sort of silence that is filled with unspoken criticism or hard withdrawal. The sort of silence that is a place of refuge, of rest, of acceptance of someone as they are. We are all hungry for this other silence. It is hard to find. In its presence we can remember something beyond the moment, a strength on which to build a life. Silence is a place of great power and healing.

As I turned to leave, I looked down. Beside my foot, a sprout of greenery was clawing its way through the pristine nothingness to begin anew. It was later that I realized my haven had sent me a message, and it had shown me that nothing is ever completely lost, unless you cease searching.

Does your home make you happy? This place, this sanctuary, that we call home should be a place that makes us feel joyful, safe, and at peace. Let your home be a place of beauty. Let it be that your home never makes you feel trapped, stressed, or drained. Having a place of sanctuary is very important for the mental well-being. No matter what happens in the outside world there needs to always be a place for you to balance out and recharge. Let your home be a sanctuary that gives you peace.

You don't get to turn someone's sanctuary into an unsafe space.

I thought he'd run if he knew. Instead, he offered help, not that I believed he could possibly help. I thought he'd turn his back, close his heart, slink away. Instead, he promised sanctuary.

Chance wanting to defend her grandfather, but not about to leave the library, dustysafe sanctuary of shelves and glass cases and the musty smell of all the books, the door locked from the inside against birdnervous aunts who thought maybe a few slabs of smoked ham and a spoonful of mashed potatoes would make everything better, would make anything right again.

Neither the Temple of Solomon, the Second Temple, Mount Gerizim, nor Jerusalem itself replace the existential awareness of God within the soul. Likewise, the ornate sanctuaries of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, neither Westminster Abbey in London, nor Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York contain the Holy Spirit without the faith of their congregants.

To build refuges of my own making is to construct fortresses of sand at ocean’s edge, where the relentless tides of time will leave my most magnificently constructed walls as perfectly flat sand. And now that I am subject to the very tides that destroyed these walls of mine, I am left with the reality that my single and sole refuge can only be the God who created both tides and sand.

My parents, and librarians along the way, taught me about the space between words; about the margins, where so many juicy moments of life and spirit and friendship could be found. In a library, you could find miracles and truth and you might find something that would make you laugh so hard that you get shushed, in the friendliest way. There was sanctuary in a library, there is sanctuary now, from the war, from the storms of our family and our own anxious minds. Libraries are like the mountain, or the meadows behind the goat lady’s house: sacred s