Sacred Spaces?

a prayer for the parking challenged.

I did a bit of a mid-year audit on myself a few weeks ago. It surprised me to learn we’re over half way through 2025. While I’m sure if I asked there would be a plethora (Omg how good it feels to actually use that word and in the right context) of suggestions on things I could work on and improve, I whittled it down to two.

1. I want to be a better friend. Between a deadly combination of busyness, selfishness and what I perceive as exhaustion, I’ve let some important relationships fade and I’m both aware and not ok with that. Whether these people know who they are or not is another story, but I want to be more intentional here. Time slips away and next thing you know it’s been a year. Or two. Luckily I’m surrounded by people who ARE good friends and refuse to let this happen, so I’m going to take a few notes and look for more on this as I figure it out.

2. Parking. It has come to my attention that I am a crappy parker. I drive fine. Where and how I end up is another story. This was first brought to my attention by a note on my windshield. I wish I would have known who had put it there, because in the same way they told me I should learn to park, I would have told them they should learn to spell, use better grammar and not so many explititives. F@$@# B#$@$ You Park Like Sh@#$@#$@#. Learn to R@#$@#@$#@#$ Park.

As a couple of days and weeks passed, I started noticing…they were right. More often than not, I’d return to my car and i was… literally out of line(s). The Target parking lot or getting too close to Angie Schulke at work. (She repeatedly had to get in on the passenger side.) I started snapping a few pictures, not to shame myself just to remind myself to start thinking about it a little more.

I got what they call a bad case of what they call The Baader–Meinhof Phenomenon. Most of us have had this at some time or another; the false impression that something happens more than it actually does. You’ve probably experienced it if you’re going to buy a car (instead of park it) and you have a grey model on your mind and in the next few days you see that grey color everyyyyywhere. All of a sudden everyone is driving that car in that color. It’s also known as the frequency or recency illusion. Usually harmless, it does affect our ability to recall events correctly and cause patterns that aren’t actually there.

But the patterns were there. I started seeing that others really were challenged here too. What started as me shaming my neighbor on a group text actually an awareness campaign that bad parking was reaching epidemic proportions. When I realized I was starting to circle parking lots before I picked a spot just to see if there were any other grievous offenders, (same kind of attention you give gray hairs or a zit) I thought I better address this.

I turned as i usually do to Irish Poet and philosopher John O’Donohue. His books are stacked on my desk and I reference them almost daily. Now, John doesn’t really have anything to guide you in a parking lot but the other morning, I read something he wrote called “A Blessing For Presence” and a couple things happened.

First I was struck by the word presence. That that’s what’s needed to be a good parker. Just slow down and pay attention. I also thought that I hadn’t thought about the word blessing in a long time. it’s one of those words you toss around…what a blessing…it’s a blessing…we are so blessed. It’s a word that seems to have gotten a bit of an eye roll reputation by some people due to it’s sort of religious affiliation. Curious though, I investigated the etymology.

The Greek word for blessing is “eulogia,” which means to speak well of or to praise and is often used in the context of a gift or a favor bestowed on someone or a way to say thanks to God. It is indeed a religious word; Jesus used “eulogia” to bless the bread and wine at the Last Supper. (i.e communion today.) It was also used to praise God for both spiritual blessings, such as peace and joy, and physical blessings, such as health and prosperity. TOTALLLLY SIMPLIFYIING HERE cuz I want to move on -the word evolved from Old English terms "blētsian" (or "blōdsian"), which meant to "consecrate or sprinkle with blood". In Germanic pagan practices it involved sacrifice and marking with blood. The Christians tried to translate it in Latin to "benedicere" (to speak well of) we use that word as benediction. There was also a Hebrew translation in there about bending the knee, which totally tripped my Game of Thrones button, but for today, we’re going with how the linguistic shift in modern meaning now incorporates aspects of invoking divine favor, and speaking and wishing people well.

Which led me to believe that if John O’Donohue can write a blessing for Prescence… I could write one for Parking. It shall not involve any blood sacrifice, just an effort to invoke some favor. We could all use a little more praise in all the ways these days

so might as well start here.

A Blessing for Parking:

May a perfect front row spot always await you, reminding you of your guardian angels and that you live a divine and charmed life.

May you absolutely nail every parallel parking opportunity that comes along. On the first try. With witnesses who recognize your skills and the enormity of what you have just done.

May your curiosity in the human condition be tickled by the audacity of the soul who claimed three parking spaces. (And may you smile and nod and say people are just so interesting if their vehicle is a cybertruck.)

May your contortionistic spirit expand as you emerge from a tight squeeze, an awareness that you are lithe, flexible and an integral part of the sacred geometry of universal parking life.

May you find grace and peace in the sacred ritual of circling a lot repeatedly. May your brain just not explode.

May you recognize that whoever squeezed their massive SUV into a compact space carries a problem solving visionary spirit and we need them more than ever. It’s all hands-on deck when it comes to world peace.

As you become a spiritual giant in every parking lot you enter, may the notes you leave on other’s windshields be positive;

encouraging them on what they did right.

And may you celebrate always the quiet miracle of remembering where you parked.