A sacred expression. Michiana Shores, Lake Michigan, Michigan June 21, 2013
My experience regarding sacred places such as altars, churches, shrines is that they are places you plan on visiting. They are predictably in a given location. Either you know about them or you don't and you plan accordingly to include them in your plans (like attending a worship service at a given place) or not. We pore over tour books and land on the Grotto of Lourdes or the site in Canterbury Cathedral in the UK where Thomas a Becket was killed. It is very intentional. But there are sacred spaces that may catch us by surprise. Last week I spent a few days at the Michiana Shores, right on the Indiana Michigan state line on Lake Michigan. The beach was pristine and endless and the water and sun most inviting. One evening I was walking along the waterline when I saw that someone had built this beautiful altar. A log, some rocks carefully arranged. It was, at the very least, a kind of beach-appropriate installation art. But, in its composition and attention to design, it seemed to me more than just log/rock/sand composition. It drew the viewer to something greater than him/herself. I don't know how else to put it, but in its simplicity and detail, it pointed to something greater--a greater power or Ultimate Being or God. Anyway, this is what I read back into the sacred place. It did not have to be a part of the Christian narrative for it to energize me. Some spiritual beauty cannot be categorized. My daughter, Nelia, and I decided to leave this sacred place intact. We knew that maybe tomorrow the strong Great Lakes waves would break it apart. We knew that like all sacred places, whether they last two days or two millenia, they are provisional and ad hoc, pointing to that which is more permanent and eternal. We left having had our spirits lifted for a moment. That was all that counted.
0 Comments
A great blessing for me was to be invited as spiritual director for the 22nd annual conference for persons living with HIV and AIDS sponsored by Province IV of the Episcopal Church (mostly dioceses in the south and southeast). It was held June 7-9 2013 at the gorgeous Kanuga Conference Center, Hendersonville, North Carolina, just minutes from Asheville. It was billed as a "spirit filled weekend of hope, music and rejuvenation." My experience with the several hundred others who were there (mostly non-Episcopal Church members from as far away as Tuscon) was that this billing was right on target. This conference represented a setting where people who carry big and heavy burdens are able to kick back and let God work in life-giving ways. For many of these persons who get to travel only rarely, the conference is described as transformative. Just a word about how it is structured: There are regular worship services. The speaker was the Rev. Roger Hayes who preached powerful messages that brought the crowd to their feet with clapping and amens. There were workshops (reiiki, mask making, Anglican prayer beads and even one on spiritual direction. There was a hugely popular talent show and ice cream social. And lots of free time to meet people, walk in the mountains and let silence take over. Here are some pictures. FYI, everyone in the pics signed a consent form to have them used on the internet or in publications. The pictures speak for themselves and so not many captions. I grew up learning that words matter. You give respect to those in authority in your life (mom, dad, grandparents, teachers) and you honor with right language God and holy things. Much of this training was based on respect for the Word and for what happens in and between persons during verbal transactions. This training occurred before the days of television, reality shows, the Internet, tell-alls . . . . I learned that words matter. They can hurt and they can heal. We sat around radios and listened . . . to words.
It was only much later that I learned that images matter also. Orthodox icons had never been a part of my formative Protestant experience. But in the nineties, I started paying attention to them, partly as the result of ecumenical exposure to Orthodox Christians. I took a wonderful icon writing class with Mother Catherine of the St. Seraphim School of Iconography here in Indianapolis. Slowly over five months my icon of the Blessed Mother took shape. This icon is in the prayer corner of my house now. This may come off as a little weird but sometimes I feel as though the eyes of Mother Mary are looking right at me and right into me. Lately I realize that I am in a culture that is awash with ready access to images of all kinds. Advertisers know how to manipulate images to create "needs" or to promote issues. I can watch anything on-line. The television brings things into the house from everywhere. And it is about the television that I want to comment. Several months ago an innocent man was killed and then hacked, knifed and butchered in full public view at a busy crossroads of London. This gruesome act was reported on many news programs, by many pundits of the left and the right. So, I happened to look at my screen and I saw one of the killers calmly talking to a woman and blood was dripping from his hands. I was stunned. And sickened. This was not fiction or make believe. This was the real thing. It was in my living room where the Holy Eucharist has been celebrated. It was only steps from the prayer corner where I offer monastic prayers and where I often sit for long periods in silence in the presence of God. Suddenly this space where I live, pray, eat, work, study and offer hospitality to others seemed desecrated by the image on television. At that moment, I made a decision. If I am to be subject to violent, intrusive images in my own home, then I am done with broadcast news on television. The reason for this decision, I later reasoned, is to draw a clear line between what I allow in this space. I don't allow porn of any kind. I would challenge persons using disrespectful or hurtful language. Equally, I am not allowing vivid violence in the name of news. The interesting thing is that this does not mean that I am not paying attention to news. I still subscribe to a national daily newspaper, Time magazine and other publications. I still listen to NPR. I know that I still need to be informed and to make civic decisions. But for two months the television has been turned off except for an occasional movie or C-span book channel program. We often talk about how we need silence to deepen our spirituality. But we need to clear away images that are unhelpful as well. I have no scientific proof. But I feel certain that images such as the gruesome aftermath of the terrible London murder have a way of getting inside our psyches and souls. Once there they can wreck spiritual havoc. Not everyone agrees with me that it is best to flip the switch. One very sensitive person I met last week in Asheville, NC listened carefully. This is a spiritually deep person in all ways. In effect, she said that you can't wall yourself off from the real world. She says that her response when confronted with these bad images is to pray for those involved. She hands them over to God. I respect this approach very much. My choice, though, even if it is for just a time, is to walk into a fenced off, boundaried space where violent visual intrusions do not happen. I trust that this is different from putting my head in the sand. I respect images and what they can do to the soul. They matter. |
Archives
March 2023
AuthorDan Hoffman is an Indianapolis USA based spiritual director, supervisor of spiritual directors, and workshop/retreat leader. This occasional blog discusses things he is thinking about and wants to share. Comments are always welcome. |