Sacred Communication/Journey 2018

[Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture] Turner and Turner state "Yet there is undoubtedly an initiatory quality in pilgrimage. A pilgrim is an initiand, entering into a new, deeper level of existence than he has known in his accustomed milieu" (pg. 8). Perhaps Turner and Turner are referencing to the new growth that is created through embarking on a pilgrimage. Thus, the seeker (pilgrim) engages in a sort of initiation, in which they are confronted by the sublime and are offered the opportunity for the divine to fully infiltrate their being. As the pilgrim goes along through the sacred journey, he is being awaken to a new, or "deeper," level of existence- a life living with God. Further down in the paragraph, Turner and Turner state "What is secret in the Christian pilgrimage, then, is the inward movement of the heart" (pg.8). It is fair to connect the idea that in faith, we must be uncomfortable to grow. If we are stagnant where we are, God has no...

[Interpreting Contemporary Pilgrimage as Spiritual Journey or Aesthetic Tourism Along the Appalachian Trail] Norman Wirzba (2015:p.58) writes a description of the obtrude relationship that occurs between hiker and landscape stating:                                When we desire our relationship to nature to be mediated by the expectation that                 only places deemed pretty or spectacular are worthy of our attention, then we do                  witness an idolatry that condemns much of the world to neglect or even disparagement.                       What we often fail to realize is that our worship of nature’s beauty, especially our                              ...

[The Phenomenology of Prayer] Merold Westphal conceptualizes the idea of learning how to pray through emphasizing to the reader the importance of kenosis or decentering of oneself, self-emptying. Westphal writes "We do not detach ourselves from things in order to attach ourselves to God, but rather we become detached from ourselves in order to see and use all things in and for God" (Westphal, 2005). The importance of having a prayer dedicated to the God of love and mercy is an imperative action. Prayers become far more focused on expanding God's kingdom and glorifying Him when the focus is taken off of our needs and put on others. Since the God of the universe is a selfless, caring, and humble being, thus we must too act in such away to become Christ-like, or sanctified. Westphal touches on the idea of silence as the presence of the Lord. She states "...it is the God who speaks in Scripture for whom we listen in the silence and to whom we listen as the silence...

[Landscapes of the Sacred] The author references his experience with the Clearing in the Woods to guide students in understanding axioms; principles that underlie the way landscape fits into the religious imagination. Lane states, "Each time, on arriving at the river, I want to find God immediately- I want direct access, I want power and preternatural wonder...I stalk God. And usually, after at least twenty hours into the trip, I'll finally realize there's going to be nothing there but trees and clouds and distant river after all... Yet it is at this precise moment, where I give up looking for the burning bush, that my retreat usually begins" (Lane, 1998). The conception of tunnel vision amidst an all encompassing God is a profound notion. When I escape from the day into nature, I eagerly search for God. I thirst for Him, thinking that just a glimpse of Him will endure me through all the tasks I have in my hands. Lane explains it spot on when he states that we...