Things I have learned about staying alive

Things I have learned about staying alive

One by one, each of the hikers came out of the trail onto the bare rock overhang.  We looked down about 120 yards to the rollicking stream below.  The air was filled with the thundering notes from the waterfall across the chasm.  The virgin forest before us, uninterrupted by trails or signs of humanity, called out freedom with millions of leaves in the wind.  We were youths and adults, from the south and the north, dark and light skinned, from different religious backgrounds, but we all came to this place seeking the renewal of spirit and vision.  “Ritual’s liminal or transformative space allows new ideas and relationships to form. [. . .]  Ritual space alters the surroundings, bringing important symbols or creating a sense of beauty in a context that will announce the unique relationships about to take place.  For people in conflict, ritual space is a “jumping ahead to the end of the book” experience in which they can imagine living in a peaceful future” (Schirch 72).

I have learned that to stay alive, I must seek the sacred spaces of transformation. “In a sacred moment, I experience that wholeness. I know I belong here.  I don’t think about it, I simply feel it.  Without any work on my part, my heart opens and my sense of ‘me’ expands.  I’m no longer locked inside a small self.  I don’t feel alone or isolated.  I feel here. I feel welcomed” (Wheatley 133).

 Sacred space is an elusive place to get to.  It seems to me that interdependence, trust, willingness, desire, faith, connection, hope, love, mystery, risk, and challenge are all words that are a part of this shimmering “end of the rainbow” place.  It is a moment that one doesn’t fully comprehend until the savoring of it afterwards.  It is the space where unity, diversity, and liberty are balanced. That balance in this world can only last an instant, but in that moment, we glimpse at what heaven must be like.   Peeking into heaven transforms us.   Peeking into heaven with others convinces us that we have not stepped through a mirage or an illusion. Long after the feelings fade away, the transformation of our relationships will be proof that we have been to holy ground.

I have found that place in Chile which goes with me nestled in my heart wherever I go.  When I return there, I remember where home is and what I am called to be and do. It is my spot. To stay alive, I return frequently to that place either physically or in my imagination.  “Never forget that as you yearn to have these moments with your spot, your spot years to have them with you.  Love in nature is not just one-way; it is all around us, everywhere in us, and meant to be shared.  When you start longing for your particular spot, know that your spot is longing for your particular presence.  It’s a mutual thing” (Franquemont 308-309).

“There you find that meeting place, the home where heart and lungs gather, where breath meets blood, there you will find voice.  When you find your way to that home, there you will find yourself, the unique gift that God has placed on this earth.  You will find the place from which your journey begins and to were it returns when the road is confused and hard.  This is the deeper sense of vocation” (Lederach 166). I have been called on a quest seeking the sacred spaces where we are transformed.  I long for the holy ground where our relationships with God, others, ourselves and all creation are healed.  The sacred spaces are pauses that give us hope and inspire us to continue on our journey through the “shadowlands,” a term C.S. Lewis used to speak of living on this earth with all of its difficulties and challenges. 

In order to be vibrant, joyful, and engaged, and to continue believing in and working toward peace and justice here in the shadowlands, I must remember to pause and be fully present in the moments where I am restored and healed.  A visit to sacred space brings about transformation on the journey to wholeness.  

Works Cited

Franquemont, Sharon. You already know what to do: 10 invitations to the intuitive life. New York: Jeremy P Tarcher/Putnam, 2000.

Lederach, John Paul. The Moral Imagination: The art and soul of building peace. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Schirch, Lisa. Ritual and Symbol in Peacebuilding. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press, Inc., 2005.

Wheatley, Margaret J. Turning to one another: simple conversations to restore hope to the future. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2002.