Sacred

Some days when nothing comes to mind to put on paper, but when I feel desperately that I need to write, I look for one words prompts to get me started. Today, the word sacred caught my eye, and I started thinking about all of the spaces in this world that are sacred to me.

The first thing I think of when I hear the word sacred is the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy.  I think of how dizzyingly beautiful the ceilings were, the beautiful marble work with so much detail it made my head spin.  I actually had to go sit down while looking up at it because of how haunting it was; it was like my eyes had never seen such beauty and my brain could not comprehend it.  Sacred has long been a word used in churches to describe the holy, things deserving deep veneration because of their connectedness to God. 

The most sacred spaces to me these days are places filled with water. Great lakes, oceans, rivers, creeks-- all feel like sacred spaces to me.  I used to the think that the beach was the only place that I could find holy ground, but when we moved to Indiana, I found sacred spaces all around me.  I found the fall leaves in Brown County to hold sanctity, the cotton candy sunsets at 9:30 at night as the Midwest final went to sleep in the summers, and even now, in our new home in the NC Blue Ridge Mountains, I find a sacredness along the rim of the mountains as the sun sets behind them.  

I think it's important to find sacred spaces in a world as a refuge from the fluorescent lights and car horns, spaces that help you to forget your bad day at work or the deadline that you have coming up.  Sometimes my sacred space is just on my back porch, looking out at the trees while drinking a cup of tea. 

When I look at the photo above, I'm flooded with memories of the beautiful lake that we had the good fortune of living near in our Columbus home.  I felt a sacredness each time I rowed out to West lake to watch a sunset, as I sat there reading a book through the fading light or just enjoyed the sight before me.  I'm looking for new sacred spaces in our new home, but I'm also remembering the sanctity of our old spaces and tucking those memories away to pull back out while I seek out our new spaces.

Love,

C