Jenny Parker- Landscapes of the Sacred II

"The effort to see life as a vivid series of burning bushes is not only spiritually exhausting; it also misses the profound truth that most often the holy appears in the commonplace routines and incongruities of human experience" (Lane, P. 24). Recently this year I have found a place sacred to me, the Noland Trail. This place had been just a normal, beautiful running spot for me until one day when everything changed, "the sacred place [revealed] itself" (Lane, p. 21) to me. The word "revealed" is carefully chosen because "the holy exists entirely from any human control. It demands its own freedom to choose" (Lane, p. 21). When my sacred place revealed itself to me I had a feeling of overwhelming joy. I had wondered why this hadn't happened sooner, but I then learned through my studies in this class that I had yet to shake off the village until that day. Just as before, I go to the Noland Trail whenever possible, but now it has a whole new meaning to me; it's sacred. "Any thorough experience of sacred space will have to follow this deliberate pattern of mystery, demystification, and the subsequent reawakening of wonder" (Lane, pp. 24-25).