How the Sacred Sessions let the attendees press pause

It is quiet in the Old Church. The 20 people or so on chairs in a circle among the pews have their eyes closed or are looking up, in front of them, or around them. Some have their hands firmly wrapped around a cup of tea. The soft voice of Madelaine Ley, a TU Delft researcher, in English with a Canadian accent, then starts reciting self-written poetry.

These times call for us to inhabit the threshold.
Not as one captured,
Nor as the hero slaying dragons unscathed.
But, perhaps, as the “arrow that sings the wind”.
Or the birthing mother instinctively thrashing with the throes of life.
Or the one who dares to know the moonlit night.

Welcome to the second Sacred Session of autumn. The sessions are arranged by Ley on Tuesday evenings, a Philosopher at TU Delft’s Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management. While the gatherings at the Oude Kerk are not religious, they are about filling an ‘empty spiritual space’. Both people at TU Delft and others are welcome to spend 15 minutes meditating, on self-reflection, poetry, philosophical contemplation, art, music … The subject is different every time, as is what is done. The common element is to escape the rat race and spend some time in reflection.

Ley set out to find a suitable venue. It was Nyncke Streefland-Van der Berg’s (Director of the Oude Kerk and the Nieuwe Kerk) enthusiasm that brought her to the impressive Oude Kerk. “I thought that was brave of her as it is not a religious gathering,” says Ley. The venue could not be better. “The church is my co-host.” After organising the spring gatherings herself, Ley has started receiving support from the Public Lecture Series this autumn. It makes funds available for the musicians and artists that Ley invites.

From summer to autumn

This evening’s theme is Inhabiting the threshold, from John O’Donohue’s poem which she used to open the session. Ley drew inspiration for the theme from the transition from summer to autumn, she explains. She uses it as a parallel for other things too, on the one hand narrowing it down to transitions in everyone’s personal life and on the other and on the other hand to change at the world scale like global warming.

After the introduction round, she pulls out some notes on which she has written the following questions. ‘At which threshold are you standing? What are you leaving and about to enter? What prevents you? What gifts enable you?”’ (from John O’Donohue’s Bless the Space Between Us). Everyone is invited to take a pen and paper and find a quiet place in the church to think. After everyone has sat in silence thinking about their own obstacles, Ley invites them to sit in pairs and share their thoughts with each other.

It’s practical philosophy, Ley says. She had been to so many philosophical talks and even thought she heard so many inspiring stories, every time she wondered what she could do. “I want to show that philosophy is more than just asking questions and opening eyes. Hence the practical exercises.”

Tekst continues below the picture.

Spiritual community

She saw spiritual yearning around her. “Now that so few people go to church, there is little spiritual community. But the desire for this is there. Just look at how many people meditate during yoga classes or use meditation apps.” Since these things are done on your own, she decided to create the Sacred Sessions around togetherness.

Afterwards, Sinzi (39) says that it was an intense session for her. This was her fourth or fifth time. “It is especially good that nobody knows each other,” she says after giving it some thought. She brought her brother a couple of times, and they started giggling when they paired up in the exercise. “It was like telling him people’s secrets.” It feels different talking to strangers about personal things. “As you do not know each other, you can share your story and get on with life afterwards.”

For Hayleigh (24), the evening is a time for herself. Her life – with a busy academic job and a family – involves a lot of rushing around. “It is hard to sit still, but I can do so at the Sacred Sessions.” Laurent (36), from London, had no idea what to expect when his brother Olivier (35) and his sister-in-law, who live in Delft, brought him here during a week’s visit to the Netherlands. But he enjoyed it. “It forced me to take a break. I found peace and quiet, and did so in this amazing location.”

Correction 5 november 2024: In the first version of this article the poem was referred to as John O’Donohue’s For the Interim Time. This was incorrect and has been revised.