Why No Talk of Politics
A Reflection by Christine Jurisich
When you join us for a Sacred Circle or retreat, you will be asked to take a group sharing pledge to ensure a sacred environment. We ask participants to keep confidentiality, to refrain from judgment and advice-giving, and we ask that people keep their political views to themselves. Why is that?
At the root of a sacred environment is the belief that every person is sacred and made in the image of God; thus, every person’s story is sacred and should be respected as such. Everyone arrives with a set of beliefs based on their lived experience. That story is to be honored and listened to with tender, loving care.
When we ask people to refrain from sharing their political views, it is not with the intention of denying reality. Far from it. The mission of this ministry is to help people support one another’s attempts to sort out reality and find God’s strength within it.
Nor is it about endorsing a self-absorbed, feel-good spirituality. The ministry’s purpose is to help you go within, take care of, and love your sacred self in order to be able to extend that love outward to others.
When you are asked to not talk about politics, it is with the intention of bringing people together to unite in the light of Christ, a bigger place than one moment in time.
We start by creating an environment in which each person is to be seen and heard in the way each person wants to be seen and heard.
Your life story and all it may hold—divorce, cancer, a rags-to-riches story, foster care, abuse, a miracle story, newfound confidence and joy—is going to bring you to certain conclusions in life that will be different than the person sitting next to you in a retreat or facing you in a breakout room on Zoom. When you get the chance to hear a person’s fears, dreams, and wonderings, you begin to connect with them on a deep human level. You may not have the same exact fears, dreams, and wonderings, yet you can relate to the fact that you have your own, and you want them held in sacred space. Sharing stories with people who have lived different lives from you and who reside in different places invites you to experience an added dimension of God.
How does this play out at Retreat, Reflect, Renew? Here are some of the phrases I often use and the reasons behind them.
You are invited to “come as you are.”
This is the invitation for you to be seen and heard in the way you want to be seen and heard. How are you wanting to be seen and heard?
You have the opportunity to “take this journey at your own pace and in your own way.”
The Holy Spirit works differently in all of us and in God’s timing. The flexibility is intended to empower you to listen to where and how you are called to grow, discover, and explore your relationships with yourself, God, and others. What kind of pace is God calling you to grow at during this time?
You can live into the Christian call to come together as one body of Christ (1 Cor 12:12-27).
When you have the opportunity to be seen and heard in the way you want to be seen and heard, healing can begin. This opens up a space for you to start connecting with others from a Divine mystical place of love and compassion. You will notice your heart expanding as you witness how every person is made in the image of God. The light of Christ in me can connect with the light of Christ in you beyond categories and titles that often divide us.
This is what I call a sacred community: A place that respects each person’s story, celebrates one another’s differences, and supports one another’s faith journey, no matter how different that journey may be from your own.
We may not have the same views, yet we can unite in a belief in the love and mercy of Christ.
We can unite in our yearning to feel that love and mercy.
We can unite in our need to help each other discover what the love and mercy of Christ means in our day-to-day lives as we work to make sense of a suffering world and find our way to contribute more peace and hope to it.
During this divisive time, I invite you to reflect on what areas of your life are you able to experience sacred sharing and sacred community? How may you be called to open your heart in a new way?
Sacred Self, Sacred Community
If you seek this type of sacred connection, I hope you will look at our new program, “Sacred Self, Sacred Community” that begins in January of 2026 and sign up for an information session. Learn more here.