Open Spaces Sacred Places | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly
I have noticed over the years that in every place I have lived, I have found a sanctuary; a place where I, often without even realizing it, have built an altar of the heart. Whether it was the creek out behind my grandparents’ house in Ohio, Caumsett Park in Long Island, the cathedral cloisters in Durham, England where I went to school, or Wall Lake in South Dakota, I’ve found my own sacred spaces in each place. This article talks about some people who are creating intentional spaces for reflection and introspection in the midst of crowded urban settings.
Open Spaces Sacred Places | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.
Think about it; what have been sacred places for you? Why were they important to you?
June 14th, 2010 at 9:30 am
hey krista…great article. there are several things that struck me in these stories that I have been toying with for a while now. I love the common good/community directed nature of the projects…to be a place of hope, but without some sort of expectation or exchange. my thought recently is that the church must make such spaces for the flourishing of all humanity…even for those of other religions. my fear is that too often we do so with alternative purposes…ie..the hope of “evangelizing” the “lost.” which to me dangerously suggests that only “believers” are worthy of such spaces and flourishing. perhaps that is my cynical side driving too much of my thought.
as far as sacred spaces…certainly the homes i have lived in. so much of what we consider sacred space is rooted to story and memory. since we spend so much time in proximity to our homes they almost naturally become sacred due to the unfolding of our stories in that place. another of mine is Inspiration Hills…where i went to camp as a child and worked as a college student. so much of my faith development happened around this place, in the trees, on the trails, in the lodge. I cannot tell the story of my life without these places.
June 14th, 2010 at 10:15 am
Ryan,
Thank you so much for these thoughts. I too appreciate the community emphasis in these gardens, especially in the case of the one in East Baltimore. There is a sense of providing a safe, quiet place of rest and peace. It is so difficult in our culture to find places like this…in fact, I wonder if our culture opposes such places…when we stop to calm down, reflect and pray, we may also stop grasping for things to distract us from our anxieties. We may actually consume less…
While the church provides a natural and necessary place for corporate worship, I think that the community of faith should also encourage individuals to cultivate private places of personal worship and prayer. Especially in our culture that is so oblivious to these practices. We don’t all do this naturally.