Sacred Communication/Journey Fall 2017

Kendall Bredehorst 12/16/17 Music has always been a positive outlet for me. It's a way for me to relate to others in a way that's inexplicable. With God, I feel like whenever I listen to Christian music it's a way for me to grow closer to Him. It's a form of praise, but also a form of communication. Listening to that type of music allows me to grow in my walk with the Lord.

Kendall Bredehorst 12/16/17 In Martin Buber's I and Thou,  he discusses the differences between I and Thou, one of them being the difference between experience and encounter. Experience belongs to I-it since an experience cannot be shared with other people. An experience is personal and private therefore cannot be shared with the world. An encounter on the other hand, can be between more than one person. It allows people to form relations with others which contrasts the purpose of an experience. When you have an experience, it is something only you can go through. It is special and unique to you.

Kendall Bredehorst 12/16/17 In Phenomenology of Prayer ,  the characteristics and results of prayer are heavily discussed. One of them being prayer can recenter our priorities and values. When we pray, we can be guided by God. In our daily life, we constantly sin and listen to our ego.  By praying, you not only go through self-empyting, but you recenter your values. It's a time of necessary reflection.

Kendall Bredehorst 12/16/17 It goes without saying that nature has remedial qualities to it. It's not a coincidence that people can go on a walk or day hike and come back feeling oddly refreshed. Over Thanksgiving break, I took a trip to Scott's Run, a nature preserve in my home town. I walked my dog along one of the trails and couldn't help but destress. Being surrounded by the woods separated me from the daily chaos in life. With things like work and social media, it's easy to get caught up in the business of life, which is why it's important to isolate yourself for a little. For me, being outdoors can get rid of any anxious feelings I have for the time being and just appreciate what is around me.

Kendall Bredehorst 12/16/17 "See my journey on facebook" briefly discussed the effects of technology on pilgrimage. As each year goes by, an increasing amount of people are using technology in their day to day lives. Technology is turning into an necessity rather than a non-necessity. This trend is overflowing into how people experience pilgrimages and thru-hikes. To fully experience the trail people need to completely immerse themselves in the expedition, which means ditching the phone. Due to the additive characteristic of technology, people can hinder their pilgrimage or hike through the use of technology.

Kendall Bredehorst 12/16/17 I read Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander and he discusses his spiritual journey of going to heaven and coming back. He was in a coma for 7 days and during those 7 days he recalls his experience in heaven. Even though it may not be completely true, this book discusses his path to Jesus Christ as he went from a nonbeliever to a believer.

Kendall Bredehorst 12/16/17 In my readings, there was a common theme of people going through any mental related illness experienced benefits from being outdoors, specifically long distance hiking. As of right now, ecotherapy (therapy involving nature) is not that know but I think throughout time more and more people will see the benefits of hiking. Even being in nature can have positive benefits on a person. Personally speaking, whenever I go on a hike or go on a run through the woods, I'm left experiencing a content feeling

Kendall Bredehorst 12/16/17 In the reading Wilderness as Axis Mundi: Spiritual Journeys on the Appalachian Trail, wilderness is defined as "a landscape where humans have not left artifacts of habitation." But if we go by this definition  is there really such thing as wilderness? Technically, no. Humans leave their trace virtually everywhere. Even if it is not left with bad intentions, true wilderness cannot be achieved in reality.

Kendall Bredehorst 12/16/17 Prayer has always been an important part of the Christian religion. It's a way of getting close to God and being able to communicate with Him. Kenosis is a part of prayer since it's a way of self emptying. By praying, a person opens up and receives His divine will. Prayer is an integral part of not only Christian religion, but any religion in general.

Kendall Bredehorst 12/16/17 Although I've never experienced flow, I find this idea really interesting because one can be completely unaware that they are experiencing this until they have already been through it. It is not something that is a given. You may or may not ever experience flow. So what constitutes for someone to experience flow? It is obtained through a merging of action and awareness. It involves a certain feeling that is intrinsically rewarding in the end.

Kendall Bredehorst 12/16/17 Communitas is a term coined by Turner in his book,  Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture . The idea is that feelings of belonging are produced through the rejection of normal societal hierarchy. People stand "outside" the usual structure and this allows for people to strengthen their bonds with each other. In communitas, everyone is equal.  Communitas is very prevalent among "trail towns" and along different trails. It invokes a feeling of togetherness that is not common in today's society.

Kendall Bredehorst 12/16/17 As a child, I grew up watching the Little Drummer Boy - a timeless film following the journey of a young boy following the North Star in order to find what he's been looking for. He follows the North Star and finds his way to the Church of Nativity. Hundreds are gathered at the church as they join together to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. I think this relates back to the Lane's axioms we learned in class. Here it is, this average church, being the home of something so magnificent. Now, it's a popular stop on many pilgrimages. Through ritual, this church turned into something extraordinary.

Kendall Bredehorst 12/16/17 I've been to the Noland trail plenty of times before I went with the class. However, this experience was completely different. We were told to  immerse ourselves in the environment. On my previous trips I was never observant to my surroundings. Sure the water was nice and the trees were pretty, but other than that I never experienced the Noland trail. When I went with the class, I was much more observant to the 'feel' of the trail. It was comforting to be out in nature and take it all in. To fully admire God's creation was extremely refreshing and overall I had a good experience on the trail.

Kendall Bredehorst 12/16/17 The first chapter of Landscapes of the Sacred is surrounded around the theme of axioms of a sacred place. A sacred place is defined as a 'storied place'. The four axioms discussed are 1) a sacred place is not chosen, it chooses 2) a sacred place is an ordinary place, ritually made extraordinary 3) a sacred place can be tied upon without being entered, and 4) the impulse of sacred place is both centripetal and centrifugal, local and universal. The second axiom caught my attention because I think a lot of times people forget that these sacred places, didn't always have so much meaning. The Church of Nativity, for example, didn't always have a sacred value. It was a church that was made extraordinary because the birth of Jesus took place in it.

Kendall Bredehorst 12/16/17 In Lane's book, Landscape of the Sacred, one of the topics discussed is the ordinary as a mask of the holy. In order to protect God's magnificent and raw power, he needs to remain hidden. However, just because he is hidden does not mean he cannot be identified. A mask can identify the thing being represented while remaining private. Lane talks about an example of this when he brings up his experience at Mount Rainer. He described it was "one of the most graced and gifted of my life," and even though he didn't physically see God, Lane was able to sense His presence. What I took from all of this is that God is always present, but he doesn't always reveal himself in obvious ways.

I think one of the most interesting concepts we learned about this year was flow. I think back to flow experiences I have, and most often they occur during two specific activities: driving and cooking. I love to do both of these things very much. It was interesting to think of flow as the "merging of action and awareness" but also to realize that once flow is realized, it is no longer flow. I think back to the many times I drive and I get experience flow or the times when I am cooking and in hindsight, it was flow. I think it is interesting how we can have these experiences in the midst of the busyness of everyday life.

Another interesting thought that this class has sparked in me is how this course applies to the idea of 'community.' Buber writes that t rue community doesn’t come into being because people have feelings for each other but for two reasons: All of them stand in a living, reciprocal relationship to a living center and t hey have to stand in a living, reciprocal relationship with each other. This thought was very interesting to me. In the context of Christian community, it is crucial to be truly centered around Christ. It is also crucial to be living in real, authentic relation with one another. As a selfish and sinful human, community is hard for me. It is hard to orient myself on Christ. It is even harder to orient myself around others. But, despite our sinfulness, community is able to come to fruition because of Christ. Because of the deposit of the Holy Spirit, us sinful humans are able to partake in holy communion with God and in turn, authentic fellowship with one another. W...

As we have thoroughly discussed communication with God in this class, I have thought back to my own prayer life. In my other class, an independent study on Reformation Theology, we discussed John Calvin, who writes four main rules of prayer. First, that reverence is absolutely necessary in prayer. Second,  we pray from a sincere sense of want, and with patience. Third, we yield all confidence in ourselves and humbly plead for pardon. And fourth, we pray with confident hope. These two lines of thought regarding prayer have showed me a few things: how dynamic prayer is, how my selfish nature can blind me to the true meaning of prayer, and how God desires us to "empty ourselves" in prayer so that His Holy Spirit may fill us. I have noticed the flaw in my prayer life - I often do not enter into the presence of God with a sense of reverence. I do not "empty myself." I am consumed with my selfish agenda and often insist that prayer be a monologue in which I get to express...

In my walk with Christ, music has been a large part of how I have connected with God. It has been interesting to discuss kenosis in class - this idea of emptying yourself - and applying that to worshipping God through song. One song in particular, "Never Going Back" by United Pursuit has made me ponder kenosis in worship. The chorus at the end is "I'm singing out Your lovely name / I'm giving You everything / You make my soul alive / You put Your love inside / there's nothing that I have need of / cause there's nothing You haven't done / You make my soul alive / You put Your love outside." These lyrics put God in a proper position of honor. It attributes all life to Him. It gives Him reverence. This position of worship can only be attained through this position of denying yourself and stepping outside of one's own ego.

Themes of wilderness and the presence of God are especially evident throughout the psalms. Some examples include: Ps. 63:1-2 "You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and glory." Ps. 78:14-16 "He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night. He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them water as abundant as the seas; He brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers. Ps. 136:16 "to Him who led his people through the wilderness; His love endures forever." Ps. 107:4-6 "some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress." Woven into these examples, is the idea that wilderness puts us ...

The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning explores the grace of God. It asks the reader to truly contemplate the gracious God in whom they are in relation with. He discusses being men and women of the Spirit, men and women who seek peace and silence. He uses part of Martin Luther's Christmas sermon of 1522 to preface his argument. Luther writes, "[of learning the Word] It is an eternal word and must be understood and contemplated with a quiet mind. No one else can understand except a mind that contemplates in silence." Manning builds off of this and writes, "I mean simply that a living, loving God can and does make His presence felt, can and does speak to us in the silence of our hearts, can and does warm and caress us till we no longer doubt that He is near, that He is here... In essence, there is only one thing God asks of us-- that we be men and women of prayer, people who live close to God, people for whom God is everything and for whom God is enough. That is the...

As I ponder what we've learned in class, on specific quote comes to mind. Thomas Kelly writes in his book, A Testament of Devotion, "For over the margins of life comes a whisper, a faint call, a premonition of richer living which we know w e are passing by. Strained by the mad pace of our daily outer burdens, we are further strained by an inward uneasiness, because we have hints that there is a way of life vastly richer and deeper than all this hurried existence, a life of unhurried serenity and peace and power." This quote draws me back to the overarching themes of wilderness and solitude we have discussed in class. I am reminded of how it is nearly impossible to escape the "marketplace economy" in which we live unless one consciously removes body and mind from their current environment. But when we venture into wilderness and solitude, we are reminded of the life we were created to live - a life filled with "serenity, peace, and power."  

My second blog about nature also has to do with a body of water in Maine. My grandmother's house is right on China Lake in central Maine. During the summer, the lake is inhabited with vacationers. But during the winter, the lake is practically empty. To get to the water from my grandmother's house, you have to hike down a steep trail. Last Thanksgiving, we went to visit my grandmother. I decided to trek down to the water by myself. When I arrived down there, I was astonished by the scene. The sky was grey and dull, the freshly fallen leaves were bright and covered the shore, there was fog in the distance, and the water was still. It was silent. I was stunned by the serenity of the scene and simply sat. I feel like this was one of the few times in my life I was able to be truly experience absolute solitude and silence.  In this moment, because of the silence and solitude, I was able to commune with God in a unique way. I feel as if the silence around me allowed me to silent intr...

This past July, I travelled with my mom to visit my grandfather in Bar Harbor, ME. We stayed at a small inn right on the water. I remember sitting in silence, staring at the shore. I would get up early in the morning and go and sit by the water by myself. I would read the Bible and pray. In the morning, it was foggy- it was beautiful and gray. You could only see about 20 feet in front of you. I remember watching the sun burn off the fog- the vastness and grandeur of the ocean was slowly revealed. I remember feeling so small and so sure of God's presence.

In Landscapes of the Sacred, Ch. 10 discusses the tension between place and placelessness is Christian Spirituality. It discusses the two approaches to sacred place: kataphatic and apophatic.  Kataphatic rejoices in discerning the presence of God in the “thisness” of various places [place] while a pophatic: skeptical of an image’s ability to contain the mystery of the Holy [placelessness]. In one specific section, The Christian Imagination and a Theology of Place, Lane discusses how God is here, but not only here. He writes, “A theology of transcendance will never be comfortable with place.” He goes on to describe 5 “motifs by which the religious imagination is able to ‘create’ places or landscapes that become embodied means of experiencing the divine presence.” The first comes from John Calvin, he “spoke of the natural world as a theater full of wonders in which God’s glory becomes apparent..” The second is n ature as a ‘second book’ alongside scripture as a way to read the presen...

In Ch. 1 of Landscapes of the sacred, Lane describes the four axioms used to study sacred place. The first, is that s acred place is not chosen, it chooses. Sacred place is a construction of the imagination that affirms the independence of the holy. God chooses to reveal himself only where He wills. The second is that s acred place is an ordinary place, ritually made extraordinary. Ritual sets the place apart as unique. An example of this would be the AT or Mt Moriah. The third is that s acred place can be tread upon without being entered. Lane writes, “The identification of sacred place is thus intimately related to states of consciousness.” Fourth, t he impulse of Sacred place is both centripetal and centrifugal, local and universal. This shows that e ncounter with Holy is not limited to said sacred place. By using these four axioms, sacred place can be thoroughly studied.

In Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture, the conclusion summarizes many different aspects of pilgrimage.  Pilgrimage is responsive to the social changes in the environment more than ritual is. It discusses the classification of pilgrims based on: 1. type of religiosity 2. style of veneration 3. symbolic emphases and 4. appeal to certain groups of individuals. Pilgrimage exists in the liminoid: open and not conceptualized as religious routine and can transition into pseudo-liminal when tied to political/economic/legal structures. It also discusses how s hrines have a magnetic effect, drawing the market and even cities towards itself.

The introduction of Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture introduces the idea of liminality. Liminal spaces are ambiguous and filled with potential with 'what may be.' This liminality allows pilgrimage to occur. This liminality manifests itself in two ways: spatially and culturally. Pilgrimages contain both of these elements. Such a pilgrimage is an " exteriorized mysticism where we gain distance from social sin, serve penance, or are initiated into a group." It also describes the three stages of pilgrimage: detachment, passage, and return.

In Ch. 6 of Phenomenology of Prayer, the author discusses how prayer in itself is work - it is the work of attention and responsibility. He discusses how attention is truly a discipline, and in today's world is absolutely necessary for authentic prayer. Attention allows an individual to escape the "marketplace mentality" of the modern day and allows an individual to put aside their ego. This attention leads into responsibility - the responsibility of one to actively engage in the world around them. This includes being authentic and compassionate towards others. The author's argument can be summed up by this: " The question, therefore, is whether we can turn our self-imposed isolation and division into the wholeness of friendship and health that would constitute our salvation. For this task, the work of prayer, which is the work of attention and responsibility, is essential” (100).

In Ch. 4 of Phenomenology of Prayer , the author writes on prayer as kenosis. He points to Jesus Christ as the primary example of kenosis in prayer. He writes, " If we make Christ the paradigm of this relation to the sacred, then the relation involves both self-emptying and receptivity. Thus, to engage in the prayer that brings one into such a relation with the sacred is to empty oneself so as to provide a space for the divine in the form of the Holy Spirit to appear" (68). Christ was able to fully participate in the act of kenosis and a result of this kenosis was His ability to be filled with the Spirit. In the Christian life, we are given easy directions on how to commune with God and it is all carried out perfectly in the life of Jesus. As Christians, we are able to see that Jesus could only commune with God because he completely emptied Himself. As believers, we should follow suit and seek to step completely outside of our egos when we commune with God.

Amidst the trail and separated from everyday life, hiking long distance allows for periods of deep personal reflection and examination. Contrasting the responsibilities and duties of everyday life, the minimal responsibilities while on the trail further separates the hiker from society. Freeing the hiker from the restrictions of social norms, long distance hiking transitions the individual from challenging everyday responsibilities such as jobs, kids, and bills to the sole responsibility of walking. This disconnection from everyday life further illuminates the interconnectedness between ones self and nature. The spiritual relationship between nature and hiker is intensified the more the hiker is disconnected with everyday tasks. Rather than focusing attention on multiple tasks at hand, long distance hiking focuses the hiker’s attention on the simple task of walking the surrounding environment.

Personally, I have experienced flow being an athlete. Also known as being in the zone, athletes often experience flow. As a pitcher for Christopher Newport University baseball team I experienced flow during games where I would pitch into the later innings. One would think that as the game progressed, I would feel tired or my arm would feel weak. Surprisingly, the longer I pitched in games, the less I felt the pain or exhaustion. Compared to the simple task of walking for long distance hikers, I had the simple task of throwing strikes as a pitcher. There were times when I was on the mound and background noise would vanish, all my concentration and focus was on the action of throwing the pitch. The consistent routine of throwing pitch after pitch began to blend in with one another and time felt as though it was speeding up. The games in which I would pitch seemed to end much quicker than the games in which I would not pitch. My best pitching performances felt as thou...

An image, in any religion, is a material object that represents a deity and to which religious worship is directed. The concept of the religious symbol also embraces an abundantly wide variety of types and meanings. The function of the image or symbol is indirect yet intimate as it represents something more significant than the object itself. The foundations of images lie in areas of conscious and unconscious, experience and thought along with a connection to the extraordinary and divine. The development of a symbol arises from the symbol, the religious experience, understanding, and logic. Overall the experiences individuals have with religious images are to experience and reflect on the sacred and the holy, offering a sense of spiritual direction and connection.

“See My Journey on Facebook” uses a phenomenological approach to describe pilgrimage and spiritual journey through the lens of play and looks closely at the experience of the hiker / pilgrim in a ritual process. The hiker / pilgrim experiences the loss of ego but at the same time experiences an intensification of personhood through communitas while hiking long distance. The wilderness becomes disorienting to the long distance hiker after days with out technology. Media technologies of smart phones and wifi create a heightened sense of ego, resolving in the disarray of the communitas. Spiritual rambling and pilgrimage are both liminal journeys where the individual separates from these technologies, providing the frames for play and flow.