the hush of sacred space
Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again.
- Joseph Campbell
The audio recording of this Morton Train is available to paid subscribers here.
The first place I considered to be sacred was Holy Spirit Church in Louisville, Kentucky. The building was distinctly different from any other that I regularly spent time in. Not just because of its enormity and grand design, but because entering the place required a specific ritual.
I’d dip my little fingers into the basin of holy water and make the sign of the cross over my head and chest. Then I’d genuflect toward the altar and scoot into a wooden pew. My racing mind would slow down, my buzzing body would get still, and I’d seep into the palpable quiet of the church.
This reverence for place at an early age had a great impact. It caused me to pay attention in a way I didn’t have to in the shopping mall or playground or classroom. Consciously walking into the gentle, loving, mysterious realm of sacred space shifted my internal gears somehow.
When I got to be a teenager and a very serious young actor, I recognized that same sensation of reverence whenever I entered a theater. The palpable quiet of a mysterious realm was there, too. (It’s funny to realize that my urge to bow before stepping onto a stage has always been greater than my urge to bow to an audience.)
I was 18 when I discovered the woods to be sacred space. My college dorm mate, a practitioner of eco-spirituality, led me into the woods one autumn night so we could pray there together. These were woods stewarded by her family and she knew them well. I followed her footsteps off of the gravel road and into the realm of tall trees, giving over to the hush of that palpable quiet. I felt seen and known by the place, in relationship with it, connected to something Great.
In our secular culture, we don’t often describe places as sacred. We don’t often acknowledge the reverence that is stirred in us upon entering. And yet, we know a sacred space when we encounter one. Those mysterious realms have a way of hushing us and holding us so gently. What’s amazing is that they are always available, just waiting for us to walk inside.
What is one of your sacred spaces?
Thanks for this vivid evocation of different spaces, all sacred!