Nolan Trail as Sacred - Landscapes of the Sacred

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 to running and pushing the body that allowed for a focus of the mind.

I have run that trail closer to 100 times though out my time at college. The following are estimates: 50 of those have been with Michael, 20 of those have been alone, 10 of those have been with mentors, 18 of those have been with friends and 2 of those have been at night in the pitch black darkness with headlamps. Sometimes those runs were deep conversation with people, sometimes they were shallow. Sometimes they were an easy jog other were fast paced, heavy breathing, muscle aching, painful runs.

The reason why the place is sacred is for all those reasons but more so because of the ritual of doing it over and over again reminding me over and over who God is in my life. The trail always brings me back to God. It have taught me to be present and aware of the changing seasons. It has brought me closer to friends and closer to nature. The trail has become one of my most treasured places at CNU and I had no idea it existed when I decided to come to CNU. I am hoping for another 20 or 30 runs before the end of the my time here. I have a strong feeling I will always return to it even after I leave.

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