Landscapes of the Sacred-2

In the second chapter of Lane's book he talks about the complete experience of a place as a way to understand sacred place, which is wholly interconnected to the idea of not just entering a place, but dwelling in it. As the course of the semester has gone on, I have come to completely agree with Lane when he says that "we cannot know the world without also being actively engaged in it" (53). Before taking this class, I never stopped to think that, aside from the people and worldly experiences of a place, the environment itself could impact you and how that relationship is extremely reciprocal. I was on a retreat recently and half way through I caught myself being just a spectator of the environment and almost missed the "embodied experience" Lane talks of (53).  I found how easy it was to go to a place and leave without ever really have "been" in that place. By getting caught up in the people and activities, I almost allowed myself to experience the place on a very surface level. That night under the stars as the night creatures sang their songs, without an distractions, I was able to experience the land on more than a cognitive level. I began to realize that the trees are more than hammock hangers and the river is more than a fun place to swim in. I validated Lane's point that a place can only be experienced by the "total investment of ourselves" without meaning to. It's really easy to bring the chaos of our lives into the wilderness and never truly leave the marketplace. Having a moment where you realize you are guilty of how the majority of people treat places is convicting and freeing all at the same time.