"Sacred space"...Where is it to be found now or ever? Is it always a kind of figment, an imaginative construction of what the human imposes on nature? Or are there places in the natural world where the vibe is different and the spirit of man may be touched?
I like to think "sacred space" is to be found in the "between". What is this between? It is the hyphen, the space, between I - Thou. I think the sacred is what is co-created in the encounter between one being and another, (difference discovering connected) as between the open heart and the sea, or between the traveler and the deer at the edge of the tree-line.
For me, then, the human experience of the sacred is co - inspirational. It can extend to the experience of more than two, of a larger togethering. When togethering arises in a place, in the same place again and again---in, say, the tent of meeting---then the tent becomes sacred by virtue of what can happen within it. But for me, no matter how great the architecture, how amazing the art, how learned the officiant, how excellent the fare, it's what happens in the midst, in the sentience of our togethering ---our capacity to trust, to be patient, to give and receive attention and kindness---this loving openness to one another, this acknowledging the gift of life-- only in that togethering, in that betweening, does the sacred arise afresh in all its transient beauty. Thank you, Amichai, for creating such a between, always.
Dr. Ely Levine agrees with Ibn Ezra on the word עוד
"Sacred space"...Where is it to be found now or ever? Is it always a kind of figment, an imaginative construction of what the human imposes on nature? Or are there places in the natural world where the vibe is different and the spirit of man may be touched?
I like to think "sacred space" is to be found in the "between". What is this between? It is the hyphen, the space, between I - Thou. I think the sacred is what is co-created in the encounter between one being and another, (difference discovering connected) as between the open heart and the sea, or between the traveler and the deer at the edge of the tree-line.
For me, then, the human experience of the sacred is co - inspirational. It can extend to the experience of more than two, of a larger togethering. When togethering arises in a place, in the same place again and again---in, say, the tent of meeting---then the tent becomes sacred by virtue of what can happen within it. But for me, no matter how great the architecture, how amazing the art, how learned the officiant, how excellent the fare, it's what happens in the midst, in the sentience of our togethering ---our capacity to trust, to be patient, to give and receive attention and kindness---this loving openness to one another, this acknowledging the gift of life-- only in that togethering, in that betweening, does the sacred arise afresh in all its transient beauty. Thank you, Amichai, for creating such a between, always.
This last set of reflections read like a detective story, nightmare and archeological dig. I’m
Hooked!