Sacred.....could it be a place?

I take a risk when I write about another culture and belief system.  I have no intention of offending which of course, does not guarantee that I won't.

I want to get at the idea of a sacred place.  For Native Americans, the natural world is a primary conduit of the Divine and so places become sacred because they consistently channel the holy.  I hope I have expressed that correctly.






The Irish speak of 'thin places'.  These are places where the 'film' which divides the holy from the profane is so thin that the Divine is acutely present.

For many Christians, church structures channel the divine for them.  Sometimes it is the exquisite beauty of a cathedral; sometimes the familiarity with their home congregational building is most sacred.

In all these examples, however, it is good to separate the sacred space from the Holy Presence which is experienced there.  It is too easy to confuse the place where we consistently experience God's presence .....with God, or whatever you call the Divine Spirit.

So we protect the 'sacred tree' from being cut down.  We refuse to allow any building on a 'thin place' so it won't be disturbed.  We insist that the church building remain forever untouched.

It is easy to slip from seeking and experiencing the Divine in a particular place to believing that God is contained within the space you consider sacred.  The next step is to believe that you have God contained.

Perhaps, in the end, sacred space is about the relationships that are built and strengthened rather than the place itself.  The tree, or altar or open field, or backyard garden are markers of where you have met this Divine One before, and so you seek God's face again in that place.

What do you think?  Should some places be secured against the intrusion of the world?

Is anything sacred anymore?

What would a conversation around the idea of 'sacred' sound like?  Every religion of every stripe has defined the 'sacred' to include people, places, things and possibly even something as abstract as an idea.

Within religious conversation, 'sacred' generally points to the Divine, an eternal Spirit, a source of Life or Light.  In the Christian Bible, something becomes sacred when it is dedicated to the purpose of the Holy.  Thus sacred and holy are linked, and stand in opposition to 'the profane' or ordinary (don't confuse this word 'profane' with profanity.  It doesn't have the negative meaning we give to profane speech in the 21st century.)

This binary system of 'sacred/profane' points to a particular view of the world; one might call it an 'either/or' perspective.  You are one thing or you are the other.  Little gray area here.

Therefore, when there are only two options, one must be very careful to guard the distinctions.  The sacred/holy must be used, treated, approached, disposed of very differently than the ordinary or profane stuff of life.  So if you have a hole in your sock you throw it away.  If you have a communion chalice that has become unsafe because the silver plate is worn off.....well, what do you do with that?  Sell it at a garage sale?

This can lead to all kinds of squirrely stuff (well, squirrely to me, not to the folks who hold to the practices in question) which in the end risks losing the larger reality which is the Divine Life to which the item or practice is dedicated.  Somehow the ritual becomes the God.  The God we are honoring ends up in the back seat.

So, how do we talk about the sacred?
Where do you experience 'the sacred'?
How have dedicated practices which are holy to you helped your spiritual growth?

I'll be back

To all the faithful -

Christmas became two weeks of vacation which became surviving the after vacation time.  So no blog.  I'll get back to it soon.
The picture doesn't mean anything.  Just made me think of a friend.