Student Centered: Contradicting Axioms

Lizzie Nelson

Throughout the semester we have been discussing what makes a sacred space and we have mainly followed the four axioms described by Belden Lane in Landscapes of the Sacred. One in particular stood out to me as the semester progressed and that was: a sacred place chooses. This, to me, has conflicted with the idea that a sacred space is subjective along with that it may not always garner the same response every time it is entered. It doesn’t seem to make sense as, if it was chosen by the land or universal “other” itself, wouldn’t the space then be objectively spiritual as it would not be sacred by human decision. Just how the math and science that explains the universe is not subjective, it is outside of human control and manipulation, should that not make the spirituality of the space also outside of human subjectivity? I understand, however, that unlike many examples of science and math in our world, spirituality cannot truly be seen or interacted with in some way. It is something that happens to you. I guess this is why it is so difficult for me to understand. As a very science minded and facts based person, attempting to define spirituality in terms I understand has been near impossible, but there is something quite freeing about that.

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