I'm reading a book entitled "Sacred Places" by Philiip Carr-Gromm. In his introduction, he writes: "Sacred Places are like doorways into another world, reminding us that life is more mysterious and wonderful than we ever imagine. They evoke awe and reverance in us."
So - what actually makes a place sacred? It seems that often times these places are ancient - like Stonehenge and the Pyramids in Egypt - mysterious in their origins and purpose. Sometimes they are natural places - caves or streams or the Apurimac River in Peru. Sometimes they are made by human hands - Chartres Cathedral or Choquechirao, for example.
But always the seem to touch us at a deeply spiritual place. Through them we experience Kairos time, and the veil between the worlds in for a moment lifted. We experience a thin place.
Can we create such places - or is there something inherent in the space itself that we simply uncover and nurture?
My labyrinth is in some ways a grand experiment to see what role I might play in creating a sacred space. Does the mere existence of the labyrinth and the knowledge that labyrinths touch a deeply spiritual place for many people somehow confer sacredness on this particular labyrinth in this partciular location? Does the sacredness lie in the stoenwork and winding pathways - or does the sacredness lie beneath and around the granite and mulch?
If all of life is sacred and we are somehow connected to the earth as well as to one another in a deep and profound way, do I have it within me to unleash the sacred that may lie dormant in the world aroudn me? Is that at least part of what it means to be made in God's image, to have a divine spark within, to be a child of the light? If so, imagine the world that could be transformed - though our own efforts!
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