In Landscapes of the Sacred, Lane discusses the “effort to see life as a vivid series of burning bushes" and how spiritually exhausting that is, a statement that resonated with me. He goes on to say that such effort causes us to miss the profound truth that most often the holy appears in the everyday and mundane human experience. This brought to mind my friend Josh, as it sounds strikingly like him as he would frequently remind me of this truth and encourage me to seek and find God in the everyday, reminders I miss.
A similar truth was pointed out about the sacred place by Belden C. Lane. "Sacred place is very often ordinary place, ritually set apart to become extraordinary." It is declared unique and the ordinary is re-consecrated as the holy. I have seen this to be true many times in my life, though I did not know it. An ordinary neighborhood basketball court became sacred to me because of the many nights spent lying down on it, looking up at the stars with others or by myself and the conversations or contemplations that took place there under the canopy of stars. An ordinary swing became a place of refuge and reflection. When frustrated or confused as a high school student I would go running; more often than not the swing was my destination, rain or no rain. As our author states sacred place does, these sacred places took root in my life, transforming the ordinary and everyday substances of my life into the awe-inspiring and grand by my imagination.
The author shares a story that caught my attention about how Death Valley, which he describes as being seldom remembered for anything but tales of misfortune and struggle to survive, was referred to by the Spanish as The Palm of the Hand of God."The place of abandonment strangely became the sight of encountered majesty." What a stunning difference in perspective!
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