“If you have
been in the vicinity of the sacred - ever brushed against the holy - you retain
it more in your bones than in your head; and if you haven’t, no description of
the experience will ever be satisfactory.”
As I
think of the beautiful gardens and parks I have visited, their beauty fills and
renews me. One of my favorite joys is to tour neighborhood gardens.
The talent of local amateur gardeners is amazing! I love also wandering
through greenhouses looking at all the colors and plants. When I attend
local garden classes, it is amazing to see the deep reverence of the students
and teachers for their gardens.
A
definition of sacred is to be “regarded with reverence a feeling or attitude of
deep respect tinged with awe; veneration” or “connected with God or dedicated
to a religious purpose so deserving veneration”. I picture a sacred
space as hallowed ground such as a church, which is set aside for worship,
which brings peace and focus to my life. However the Bible says, “in the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth” – so is not all of the heavens
and earth of God and therefore, sacred and deserving of veneration?
When we visit unspoiled areas of the Earth and cultivated gardens, we feel awe
and reverence at the immense beauty. However in our daily living, we fail
to recognize the sacredness of all that is created including our own homes and
communities. What would the earth be like if we treated everything within
it as sacred deserving the reverence and respect we show God and others in
churches and other hallowed ground?
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