Sacred Communication/Journey 2019

Viewing Nature Interactively #1 As we walked around the Noland trail as a class, discovering many aspects of nature with our marvelous senses, one thing that I always stopped to analyze was the moss that grew about the trail. When I was young, I always loved to read books about plants, and I learned specific things about moss. Depending on the air quality, moss can grow in different colors. For example, orange moss means that the air quality is poor and polluted and green moss means that the oxygen in the air is clean. There was also the myth most of us learned as children, that "moss grows on the north side of the trees". After walking around the Noland trail and analyzing the moss, it does not grow only on the north sides of trees (obviously). The moss seems to be hugging whatever surface it relaxes onto. And as you look closer, you can notice insects on top of the moss that is on top of the tree and/or ground. Moss doesn't do much aside from holding water and making

The Appalachian trail is known to be a spiritual journey because of the intense mental and physical transformation hikers undergo. Today, the trail stretches from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. The volunteers are the backbone of the Appalachian Trail; they consist of teachers, government employees, veterans, day hikers, and thru hikers. With their cooperation, the Appalachian Trail has become an acclaimed spot to explore. One popular hiker was from "The Tabusintac Woman", also known as Jessica Maclean, and how she did the whole entire trail in five months and five days. She mentioned that the hardest part of the journey was to be  mentaller  prepared; The hardships of having no water, no bathroom, and no "home". But as she continued on her journey, Jessica began to discover how to deal with those difficulties. She always felt the pain and the aches, but she never wanted to quit. Maclean's  adventure through the Appalachian Trail shows the

Outside Reading #1 In doing research on kenosis in preparation for my term paper, I discovered a series of interesting articles regarding the subject of The Sacred from The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS). This Institute was founded in 1954 and its mission is to " cultivates a community of informed and respectful inquiry and dialogue at the intersections of science with religion, spirituality, and philosophy in service of global, societal and personal well-being". For my outside reading blogs, I will analyze some of these articles! The first article is "My Perspective on the Sacred" by Jim Ketzel. Ketzel discusses an example of a sacred place that we discussed in class, the Dome of the Rock. His argument is that a sacred place implies awe and wonder. This relates to the topic of fascinas in the axioms that Belden Lane mentions in Landscapes of the Sacred. 

Talk on the Camino de Santiago Kelly Cooke Symbols along the Camino de Santiago allows profound participation whereas the Appalachian Trail is not known for the symbols. Does the AT have opportunities for participation similar to that on the Camino? While the AT appears to perpetuates internal reflection and physical challenge, the Camino offers striking images, cultural experience, and liminality of place. The artwork can be alienating to those who witness it and contains lots of striking images and messages that can make one feel small. The Camino's aspects of religious pilgrimage adds to the journey. Attending to relationships, not necessarily miles strengthens the experience. This mindset is easier to have in the Camino's environment due to the city close by. The daily distance is inferior to connections made possible through the Camino. The journey can create communitas due to the surroundings (people, city, food, etc). Relationships exist between those on the Camino

In my leadership class, we recently read the book, "The Journey to the East", by Hermann Hesse. It is about a man, H.H., who goes on a long journey with a secret society to try to find spiritual renewal in "the East". They continue to travel eastward, until conflict breaks loose, and many participants leave and go their own ways. At one point in the book, H.H. states that he, "is still confronted by chaos" (Hesse, 51), which relates to the cosmos versus chaos model. If there is too much chaos, there is a disruption in ones ordered reality. H.H., though, vowed not to give into the chaos bringing darkness and conflict into his reality. He also states that the time we don't have with things we are used to, the more we miss it and the less dispensable things we have seem. This relates to the "spiritual fasting" we talked about in class. The more time we have without our luxurious commoddities from home, the more we begin to appreciate what we

The Clearing in the Woods is a short story in Part 1 page 17 of Landscapes of the Sacred , where the author recounts a time he entered into the woods with the goal of finding God in nature. I really enjoyed this story because I think it gets at a question that I have been thinking about since the start of the semester. The question is, "Can you force yourself to have a religious experience, or does it have to happen naturally?" In the story the narrator doesn't find god until he gives up on looking, and begins to head home. While on his way home, he decided to stop in a small clearing in the woods. He ended up waiting there for a while until a young doe emerged from out of forest. It only stayed there for a moment before taking off, but this encounter brought a feeling of connection and calmness to the writer. The writer goes on to state that you must first become lost before you can find what you are looking for. This does not mean as I first thought that it is pointles

Sacred Communications has changed the way I think while in nature. Before attending college I would spend a large amount of my time in nature, so when I finally arrived I felt the need to keep up the practice. Most days I'll walk to the James River. I find something relaxing about being near water, and I came across a neighborhood beach on one of these walks. While I'm not nessesarily allowed there, most people welcomed me. It was on one of these walks that I made the connection that this was my form or prayer. While not a religious person, these series of walks acted almost as a service for me. Just like Dr. Reddick had described in his stories, walking had become a form of prayer for me. The repeated action allowed me to clear my mind, and both physically and mentally separate myself from school. I always enjoyed nature, and spending time within it, but I never saw it as more than that. Our disscussions on flow helpped me see how the two could be more connected than I once th

Landscapes of the Sacred #1 We've begun to discuss the axioms of the sacred place and I was able to visit the Mormon (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) Temple open house in Raleigh, North Carolina. I wanted to relate the two together since they're both interesting and important to me.  First Axiom: sacred place is not chosen, it chooses. Second Axiom: sacred place is ordinary place, ritually made extraordinary Third Axiom: sacred place can be tred upon without being entered Fourth Axiom: the impulse of sacred place is both centripetal and centrifugal, local and universal The axiom that relates the most to the Raleigh, NC temple is the second axiom. When a temple is built/renovated and opened, there is a dedicatory prayer that blesses the temple and allows it to become sacred. I loved the feeling of peace that I got when I visited and saw the temple.

Image And Pilgrimage in Christian Culture #1 Pilgrimage and Liminality, what do they mean? The Turners define pilgrimage as exteriorized mysticism and liminality as a transition. Honestly, I wasn't sure what these meant either, so I had to do some digging. Breaking exteriorized mysticism down came out with an external spiritual belief and pilgrimage defined as sites 'where miracles once happened, still happen, and may happen again. Liminality is also a part of pilgrimage because "For the majority, pilgrimage was the great liminal experience of the religious life." (p.7). The main clarification is that pilgrims are traveling to experience liminality, unlike tourists who travel for pleasure. This liminality also represents a threshold that stands between a person and their own personal growth. 

Phenomenology of Prayer #1 My relationship with prayer As I continue to read Phenomenology of Prayer, a topic that has piqued my interest lies in chapter 3, "Becoming What We Pray". I love that way that Benson explains how prayer interacts with us, "Prayer belongs to the life of the heart, to the life of the passions and sufferings and joys of mood and emotion." Prayer is in touch with the creative parts of our personality and I personally am a very creative thinker. I wonder if my relationship with prayer is so beneficial and helpful because I think creatively. Praying links us to imaginative poetry and allows us to become linked to what we imagine in our prayers. In order to truly prayer, one must enter the territory of passion. "We become what we pray as we live out "true prayer". When we utilize true prayer we are exuding extreme emotions that are connecting us to our truest passionate selves.