Sacred Communication/Journey Fall 2017

While walking the Noland trail I saw many things, including three deer in the woods. I learned about how you could tell the passing of time by looking at the fallen trees in the river and studying the erosion of soil from standing trees. When walking I didn’t have a big revelation about my life or find a solution to a long-endured crisis, however when I stopped to focus on the pond I observed all the ducks in it. As the ducks swam around I noticed they followed a pattern. Whenever one duck would turn and go an opposite direction, all the other ducks would follow. It was as if they were playing follow the leader, and the leader kept switching. I thought it was strange how similar animals are to humans. In my friend group in high school, commonly one person would make a decision, and everyone would follow. This wasn’t the best technique and it led to lots of disagreements, but watching the ducks made me realize how boring it is to follow other people. Following others can be easier becau...

Along the leaf-covered trail, hiding behind a blanket of barren tree trunks, rests two pines. These two trees are unlike the others surrounding them. Seeming to defy gravity, these slender pines bend to the water. Their limbs gently touch the surface of the rippling pool. Surrounding them are trees, fallen and submerged completely in the water. Trying their hardest to avoid the same end as their fallen brothers and sisters, these two trees desperately bend in acrobatic ways to accommodate to the eroding bank. How long can they remain like this before succumbing to the same fate? Through the blanket of pinecone-covered boughs, the setting sun can be seen. The sun seemed to rest atop of the limbs of the near-fallen pine tree. Its yellow rays reflected off the shimmering lake and across to the seemingly endless river. In the cool, bitter air, ducks can be heard quacking and splashing near the shore of the lake. To the annoyance of me and the ducks, a child is squawking at them. Behind me,...

     In the introduction of the book Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture the first type of pilgrimage, "Prototypical" pilgrimage, is a pilgrimage that follows that of a founder of a certain religion.  The examples used in the textbook are Jerusalem and Rome to represent Christianity.  Many Christians visit these places due to the historical backing that they were in fact the exact places in which Jesus of Nazareth walked and lived.  As discussed in class as well when Dr. Reddick took us through his photos of Israel and one of them is his hand in a place where Jesus' hand actually rest. 

     There are many national parks in the US that are very beloved by tourists but at a cost of sacred place for native americans.  Many beautiful places like the Grand Canyon and Glacier National Park have some pretty ugly histories.  These places of great intrinsic value began to be viewed as instruments of making money by people who came across them.  These histories involve moving native americans from their homes and places they found to be sacred for monetary gains.  This goes well with the third chapter of Landscapes of the Sacred  in the discussion in the end of how people's sympathies toward native americans have always been a little strange and self serving in their own way.  People give off the impression of sympathizing for native americans yet still reap benefits of their oppression in unique ways.

     A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to take some friends to Rockbridge Alum Springs, a Young Life Camp in western Virginia.  Almost five years ago at the same camp was the first time I heard the gospel entirely.  I remember sitting on the tee box for a frisbee golf hole that night five years ago in a time dedicated to reflecting on the message and receiving the gospel and accepting Jesus as my savior.  I now can look back on this weekend a few weeks ago where I sat in the same exact spot where everything looked the exact same and felt the exact same, yet so much had changed internally between the times I sat in that spot.  This reminds me a lot of the second Axiom of Sacred Place discussed in the opening chapter of Landscapes of the Sacred.  Sacred place is an ordinary place ritually made extraordinary.  For me the sixth tee of the frisbee golf course is a place that I can look at the same exact view and ponder how much the Lord has ta...

     In James R. Mensch's Prayer as Kenosis  he talks about the fact that prayer is most likely the oldest practice of all time and has been going on since before recorded history and the role of petitionary prayer in the Christian life.  He says that God made himself available to us by emptying himself so we must in order to experience him empty ourselves.  He then applies this to praying to God with petition.  When one prays to God with petition they ought to see that prayer as a means of paying gifts forward to others if God's will is to grant you those wishes.  I find Mensch to be spot on on the grounds of applying this to the first great commandment to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself.  If one loves God with all of their heart, soul, and mind they petition to Him in prayer because they love and trust his provision not in hopes of favor and if one loves their neighbor as themselves they ho...

  Time in nature often get me thinking about the meaning of the grand landscapes I see.  I see these landscapes and it is hard for me not to feel affirmed in believing in a God that could orchestrate all of these kinds of things into being.  At Lion's Gate I looked at a lot of things that I feel display the character of God.  One could look at the setting sun as a representation of the fact that even though it isn't often recognized, God is consistent.  One could look at the all the humans and other animals around the spot and look at the diversity of the beings God has created.  One could see the group of us walking and enjoying one another and see a representation of the relationship God wants with all of us.  These all go to show God's omnipresence in that He is so visible even in things often seen as mundane or ordinary.

Looking at the trees in the water, I question how strong their roots are. The saltiness of the water steals the resources the tree needs. The roots do not look very deep or strong by looking at the fallen trees. The sand does not provide much support for the tree to stand and grow strong. But if the trees roots are deep enough, then they can reach the good soil. When the roots reach the good soil, it can withstand the salt water and sand, then continue to flourish. Just like the Christian faith, if you are rooted in something unstable like the salt and sand, you will die, but if you are rooted in something strong, you will flourish.

October 29 2017 After Dr. Redick let us roam on the trail, I went with Lizzy farther into the woods. As we turned the corner, a deer ran in front of Lizzy and stared at us after meeting with two other dear not so far away. We pulled out our phones to take a video but kept it short. It felt rude as if we had interrupted some sort of meetup. The previous class, when we sat on the bridge steps, we were told that beauty, as Annie Dillard stated, happens whether we are there to experience it or not. Therefore, we should try to see as much as we can and appreciate that we had the opportunity to see it. The deer we saw were a reminder of that. In a sense, the park we went to is a “spiritual void” as Lane puts it in Landscapes of the Sacred (52). It was not established as a religious place; however, it can have a special meaning to some. Although I did not find it spiritual, it made me feel strangely at home. I usually do not miss living in West Virginia because it was not the best place ...

This past week our class ventured out to the Noland trail, getting a chance to learn experientially from a nature setting. Our professor took us on a short walk pointing out different ways to experience and interact with the land. Once he had taken us around he gave us a chance to try it for ourselves. This is what I wrote: It's easy to just pass by. It's just easier to walk by something and pay it no attention. Nature is complicated and filled with stories. We just often don't give it a chance to speak. Walking today opened me to a even more complicated way of viewing the Noland. It carries with it history, storms, countless relationship talks and after work runs. If trees could talk I would definitely be listening to the wisdom these ones have to say. As I reflect on my experience on the Noland. I come to see that this isn't just true in nature but in all things. We so often don't give people attention or school work. The cop out is always to just pass by. I w...

A heron is perched on a fallen tree, looking over the water. Its head is tucked in, almost as if it is bracing itself against the brisk wind blowing across the water. It turns its head, looking straight at me, practically acknowledging my presence, instinctually knowing that I was there. Does the heron know I am watching it? That the words going on my paper all about him? Stretching out its neck, he scratches his wing before returning to his original position. I find myself silently urging the heron to fly, knowing from experience his majesty as he glides across the water. I check quickly between writing words to make sure that he is still there, that I will not miss the majestic moment. Maybe too often we look to the wild for the moments of beauty, captured on camera, the good story for when we return to civilization, witnessing the exception to the norm. But in doing so we ignore the awesome nature of rhythm and relationship. The way a heron stands on a tree, perched over the water, ...

"Deep seeing requires patience, preparation, stillness, a spirit of humility and expectancy” (John Gatta 210).  I think this is an accurate equation as to how one can deeply see something. However, I think this is much easier said then done.  To start, our nature is not to be patient. It is very easy for us to become unhappy with someone because our expectations were not met. It is very difficult to be patient with someone at the outset. Another part that I think is very difficult is the stillness. In western society, life is not stop and there is always something else to be done. By nature, westerners find it very difficult to be content with their situation. Finally, humility is extremely difficult, especially for men. Man is very prideful, and if we are not careful then all of our actions are a demonstration of our inherent pridefulness. Therefore, it is difficult for one to spend time deep seeing. Overcoming all of these factors and never be done perfectly, yet if we are i...

As I looked down the James River, and the size of its body, I could not but be reminded of the majesty of the Creator. Looking across the ripples of the water makes one feel detached from the stresses of the real world, and its busyness. However, upon further reflection, one realizes that this setting is the real world, the created world which God designed. The setting man experiences in their normal day to day life is so infected by human influences, that it has lost its natural beauty. However, when one is interacting with nature in its natural element, they are reminded of the natural beauty of the world. I always start my prayers to God in silence, so that I can try to grasp an appropriate understanding of who I am talking to, to the best of my ability. To do this, I run images of some of the most beautiful places in the natural world that I have seen in my life. These images allow me to humble myself and give reverence to God as I pray to Him. He is the creator of the world, and...

I try to spend time with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit in the mornings. It does not always happen, but it normally does. It looks like this: I open my journal, start writing and then I read a Psalm, think about it, maybe read it out loud. I then ask myself questions, ponder the context try to understand how this matters at all to me. It often ends with prayer and then I continue on with my day, having been reminded of the Truth that is around me. BUT, this time it was different. I woke up this morning at 8, had breakfast with my best friend Michael. We had a wonderful conversation about what is going on in our lives. He had to work at nine, so I had two hours to myself before my class at 11. I decided to mix some things up, the weather was sunny and 65, the most ideal condition for a walk in on the Nolan. I hopped on my bike and zipped down the waterfront, locking my bike and began my walk. I wanted it to be a time where I was with God but had no expectation on what would happen. I wanted ...

Anytime someone asks me if I like running I have always replied quickly with oh I hate running. Running hurts. It can really put serious damage on the body, especially if you don't run correctly. If the runner lands on his heal, the pounding starts with the heel, continues up the leg into the knee and finishes its damage on the hip. It's as if you are driving a nail into the ground with your leg. Running has changed for me though. I had a conversation with my older brother Tyler over the phone. Tyler is an avid runner, he likes to do half marathons and will hook up his phone with his bluetooth head phones and be lost in the motion of running. Anyway, he was telling me how he changed the way he ran from landing on his heel to landing on the palm of his foot. This changed everything for him so I decided to try it as well. My first run was tough because I could barely use my calves for the days following but I continue to discipline my body to run on the palms of my feet. I ha...

I am about to finish this book by Michael Pollan. He is one of my favorite authors and he often writes on the topic of food. He has released four documentaries on Netflix about four different ways we as humans have cooked food:  earth, water, fire and air. These films really expanded my mind on how I saw how we as humans cook our food. But this book took it to the next level. Pollan wanted to get to the core of our industrial food system in order to understand where our food starts and ends. He narrowed that search down by going to a farm in Iowa that grows #2 corn. He dives head first into how the food growing system works in a typical Iowa corn farm and the results are horrifying. We have created a food that is no longer corn but this highly used and specified plant that can barely be considered natural anymore. He continued to share where most of that corn went: feeding chicken, cows and other meat animals in order to fatten them as fast as possible. Pollan contrasts that ex...

The Oxford English Dictionary defines passion as "an eager, outreaching interest toward things." I think that passions need to be driven. People receive the drive from external things, such as the world or God. I believe that humans innate desires are against God and by our own power we cannot desire or have passions for things of God. As it is explained in the Phenomenology of Prayer, prayer is used as a means to align our passions with God, so we can live for him. Prayer allows us to be open to hearing and doing God's will. However, in Paul's letter to the Galatians, he states that our flesh cannot act out these passions alone, but if one has repented and believed in Jesus, then God has sent a helper to allow us to have these passions to live for God. Driven by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can then have "an eager, outreaching interest towards things" that are aligned with God's will. 

Over fall break, my family and I were able to escape to the mountains for a short hike. With a packed schedule, we made sure we had time for the four of us to explore the mountains. My brother has recently graduated from college and I am a few hours from home, it is rare for all of us to be together from a long period of time, so we try to take advantage of it. We can spend time together going out to dinner, but there is something different about getting away with each other. In restaurants there are so many distractions to pull our attentions away from one another. However, in the mountains, we leave the phones in the car and focus on talking with one another and enjoying each other's presence. No matter how stressful or tiring of a week we had, the mountains allow us to leave all that behind and help us be present with one another.

To many people, sitting in a boat to tear up your hands, cut your calves, and be left gasping for air while moving across icy cold water does not sound very appealing. However, this was my routine five days a week for 7 years. I began rowing my freshman year of high school. Rowing, also know as crew, involves long boats (called shells) with eight oarsmen and a coxswain competing in a race against other crews. When a crew first begins to row together the set (or equilibrium) is often thrown off because the oarsmen are not used to rowing as a crew. This is the key to having the most efficient row. The oarsmen must all be in sync with every stroke, a single mishap can throw off the rhythm.  When the crew matches each stroke with one another and is in sync, this is when the magic happens. I have found that this only happens when you enter flow, when you actions and awareness merge. The oarsmen no longer thinks about what height he needs to hold his hand or how much his hands burn f...

The four axioms of a sacred place: 1) It must choose you 2) You can walk on the sacred place and not even take part in the sacredness of it 3) It is both local and univseral 4) The place must be ordinary and then becomes extraordinary through rituals I wrote about a place in Montana as an example of a sacred place but I want to comment on one close to home. That place is the Nolan trail in Maniers Museum park. A trail that is probably very ordinary for most people that take a Saturday or Sunday stroll on the Nolan. I started walking/running the trail my freshmen year with some older guys and Micheal (my best friend) just because we really loved how the trail seemed to take us out of the world and transported us into a land seemingly away from all things college. I would run it with seniors and learn so much from the conversations that we have. I remember the feeling when John (a senior) asked me if I wanted to run the Nolan. It was a place for removing distractions, committing t...

"In the course of this study, we have seen that pilgrimage shrines, in principle centers of peace and communitas, are often involved in social and political conflicts of great vehemence and intensity." I thought this quote really spoke to the division that religious centers envoke. When a site or place is considered sacred by some, it is destined to cause division. This division can cause an animosity and violence between people of different backgrounds and systems of belief. Therefore, it doesn't surprise me that these sites are often the setting for such violence and division. Though they were meant for peace, they tend to actually bring people apart. However, I do not think this division is always bad. If there was no division, than nobody would believe in the ultimate truth they proclaimed. Therefore, so long as division does not lead to violence, I think it can be a healthy sign that ultimately leads people to peace.

"While one may pray privately, there is special merit to praying with others as part of a congregation; this is underscored by the fact that Jewish prayers are formulated in the plural rather than in the singular." I thought this quote from Fordham was an interesting one. In the New Testamen, Jesus tells us that when there are 2 or 3 gathered in His name, He is among them. This is not to say that He is not among man when they are alone, but I believe that there is a special, and more unified presence of the Lord when more than one person is gathered in His name. I think this type of prayer is what Fordham is referencing by congregation. That being said, I believe that prayer as an individual is still an essential part of the Christian life, if not the most essential part. Jesus tells us to go unto our room and shut the door when we pray. Without distractions, we are able to reside in the presence of the Lord to refresh out cup.

October 20 2017 The most sacred places to us are the ones which we have internalized. If we imagine a place better than it actually was because it was special to us, that perception becomes our imagined reality. A sacred place also has the power of polarity over us due to us. Because of our fond memories of a place, it makes us want to come back. Native Americans have this concept that the landscape is “embedded with mystery” due to its proximity to the beginning of the source of life (76). The visible world is the counterpart of some cosmic universe that existed prior. The world now draws its energy from that prior world. This makes the sacred inseparable from the profane. This intriguing quality of the soil itself encourages Native Americans to return to that land. To some, it is just seen as land. Because natives hold this belief that it is much more than meets the eye, even if it has no magical properties, it becomes sacred to them. Similar to a business, a sacred place ...

Landscapes of the Sacred focused on four axioms throughout the first chapter. The first axiom was a sacred place is not chosen, it chooses. The second axiom was a sacred place is ordinary place, ritually made extraordinary. The third axiom was a sacred place can be tred upon without being entered. The final axiom was the impulse of sacred place is both centripetal and centrifugal, local and universal.  Belden Lane gives examples along with each axiom, including personal accounts. The story corresponding with the third axiom caught my interest the most. Lane tells about a man named Charles Finney and his encounter with God. God decided to reveal himself to Charles while he was doing his daily routine. Charles frequented the same road, office, and forest when God spoke to him. Charles followed the voice he heard and was overcome by the Holy Spirit resulting in his conversion. This story was most interesting to me, because it tied all the axioms into one story. Charles didn’t choose...

Michael Crichton devotes the majority of his life seeking adventure, both in spirituality and the physical world in his book, Travels . He turns to dangerous dives, treacherous climbs and bizarre psychics for satisfaction, but he finds that he is either left temporarily gratified or not at all by these physical preoccupations. Crichton relies on the world to bring him new experiences so he can figure out what the purpose of his life is. However, he turns to spirituality and he begins to learn things about himself and becomes more satisfied with his life. Crichton removes himself from his universe hoping to complete his project of finding satisfaction and meaning to his life. He pushes himself to complete difficult task such as hike difficult peaks and scuba dive deeper and longer than what is typically safe. This reminds me of the quote in class "loosening the bonds of matter to liberate the Spirit." This often involves pushing yourself past what is comfortable and tolerat...

In their origins, then, theology and evangelism belong together. When the two are separated in practice, as so often happens, both suffer loss--theology loses direction and evangelism loses content. In, The Heart of the Gospel , by Robert Coleman, the essential need to associate and keep evangelism and theology together is explained by the author. So often the two are separated as people think of evangelism as an add on for those who know theology. But, theology means God speaking and making Himself and His ways known to us as humans. Therefore when we lose our evangelism, we are losing God's ultimate purpose of theology, that is to make humans know about him. We become educated in the ways of Christ, but know not how to do them, thus leaving us completely directionless and unfulfilled. I love this peace from Coleman explaining the importance of keeping these two words together.

In The Heart of the Gospel by Robert Coleman the relationship between theology and evangelism is explored. "Similarly, we do not have to answer every curious question about God in order to proclaim His Holy majesty. We are called only to bear witness to His revelation. The Gospel is a testimony, not a critique" (Coleman, 23). This quote from Robert Coleman was very convicting for me. Because of my personality, I like to examine all the evidence of something before I believe it. Sometimes I struggle to have the child-like faith that Jesus preaches to His disciples about in the Gospels. Though, I have come to full assurance of my faith through much study and personal experience, this character trait of mine sometimes hurts the boldness of my evangelism. I feel like I have to be able to answer all the questions one might bring up if I were to share my faith with them, and because I will never be fully prepared to answer every question, I don't evangelize. However, God knows...

     The Phenomenology of Prayer states that prayer is something that connects us to the divine. It’s made to inform, transform, and conform. Humans don’t know how to pray and are constantly learning, our prayers always go “beyond”, and there’s a tricky balance between praying to someone and finding the direction of prayer. The first chapter goes into how we should pray by praise, confession, intercession, and petition. I’ve heard about this method many times in my church, they teach the younger kids to pray using ACTS (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication), so it was a familiar concept to me. However, the book went deeper to explain how we find praise being the hardest. I agree that it can be tricky, in my opinion, it’s hard to praise something that you can’t see. As the relationship between human and God increases and time spent in quiet time or meditation increase, it gets easier to see how God is working in one’s life and praise him for it. Phenomenolog...

This class is very much a class that seems to be a time for me to reflect. Looking back at all the pictures of the AT class that I took the first two years at school. The memories become flooding into my mind of the best times in my life. The different shelters that we would hang out at the different campsites where I made a home for just one night. The mornings of bliss watching the sun rise higher and higher in the sky while I sip my coffee slowly and without a thought of what has to get done that day. I remember the night around the campfire singing and laughing to lectures about farts. There is something about looking at a picture that is so delightful. Not because the picture is anything special but it allows for this passage between the present and the past where all of a sudden you are able to remember those moments that were lost just a few seconds before. The two different trips that I had taken on the AT were very different experiences and the memories between to the two ar...

A main idea of Lane's is his list of axioms: 1) Sacred place can be tread upon without being entered 2) Sacred place chooses- we don't decide what is sacred 3) Ordinary is made extraordinary through rituals 4) Universal and local I found these intriguing; I  partially agree with Lane in that we cannot decide what is sacred by ourselves. Something usually happens at a place to make it sacred and more then one person has experienced it. On the other hand, there are some places that some people might say are sacred and others will say it is not.  Not all sacred places will have a religious context. It is possible for one to tread upon a sacred place without entering it. I would think that the inside of most sacred places are truly what is needed to be guarded in a sense. Not just anyone should walk into a sacred place without understanding its meaning, even if it isn't that significant to you. Most sacred places, at one point or another, were "just a place". ...

In John Durham Peters' book, Speaking Into the Air, he challenges the reader to define communication. He explains that soul-to-soul communication is the purest form of communication, but humans cannot achieve this because we are imperfect beings. I would agree and when looking at different religions, they are centered on having a relationship with God and communicating with God. According to the Christian Bible, God made man in his image, but was separated from God because of sin, creating a break in his relationship with God. Because of this separation, man sought ways to fill this connection by seeking it in relationship with others, so God gave commandments to the Jews for them to live by. There are 613 commandments listed in the Torah. Each one is meant to strengthen their relationship with God. The Jews said blessings and prayers to be in a relationship with God. The Jews later built a temple where God dwelt and His people could be in his presence to pray and communicate wit...

Time, Space and Culture by SArah Clark As a human, we have the temptation to “anchor meaning in place” or personify it (Lane, 8).  We want “direct access,” “power” and “immediate” responses (Lane, 16).  We want control.  However, the wholly other is the one with control and will chose “to reveal himself only where he wills. (Lane, 19).  In Landscapes of the Sacred, there is a scene with a man who had been hunting for a supernatural experience in the woods.  After having no success, he chose to just “still and wait,”  because he had faith that “there would be a meeting” (Lane, 18).  In this un-intrusive nature, he had a “simple, utterly peaceful and mysterious meeting” with a deer (Lane, 17).  It wasn’t the place he picked or the tricks to lure the deer in, but it was simply faith and patience.  In the same way, to encounter the Lord, we must wait on Him in faith.  Carolyn Osiek says that we have to live faith out in “concrete situatio...

"It affirms that simply moving into an allegedly sacred place does not necessarily make one present to it." (Lane 29). I thought that this quote was interesting, and that it applied to my last post on this book as well. The first thought that comes to mind pertains to somebody from a different religious background entering a supposedly sacred setting for a differing religious tradition. If a Christian were to go into a Buddhist temple, I highly doubt that they would be present to the place in the same way a Buddhist would feel present to that same place. I also think that people can just enter into places that they consider to sacred without being present. I think the word present implies that one is actively engaged with their mind, spirit or a combination of the two, and one could easily enter into a spiritual setting disconnected in this sense. It is easy to get distracted on life and not be present to your current location. Both these instances considered, I agree with th...

"What does it mean to experience the holy within the context of a spatially fixed reality?" (Lane 10) For me, to experience the holy within the context of a spatially fixed reality is not a situation that one can control or predict. It is not the place that makes it holy, but the presence of God appearing in a particular place that makes a place holy. Because God is God, He can make His presence felt wherever He wants. Therefore, nothing can make a specific place holy in and of itself, as it depends on God's decision to make that place holy in that particular moment for somebody. I also do not believe that just because somebody else might have experienced the Holy in a particular place, it guarantees that another person will have the same experience.  What does this mean? I believe that whenever we are blessed enough to experience the holy, wherever it happens, we should cherish the moment, because we do not and cannot know when or where we will be able to experience this...