Natural Setting -1

I was working on leaves at the United Campus Ministries house; as my heart pounded and small blisters formed on my hands, I was moving mountains! This experience was not new to me, but for some reason, it felt different than before. Part of it, I suppose was the sheer number of leaves, but part of it was my mindset.  I felt what Turner describes as “titpe,” the "heightened lucidity of human thoughts and action” (149). This, I think, was partly because of my setting. I was working outdoors and while I was putting leaves into nice orderly piles, the trees continued to rain leaves and scatter them throughout. My thought was at first “how rude,” but quickly I was led to a much less egocentric view. One of Lane’s axioms stresses the decentering value of sacred place and what I came to see in that place was a broader view of the world. I cannot say I had a profound religious experience doing chores, but I can say that I saw how small my project for that yard seems in the larger scheme of life.