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...

I chose to look up Jerusalem as a sacred place. I was not raised in a religion but know that this city is important to many people around the world and wanted to learn more about it. What I have gathered, is that Jerusalem is a city located in current day Israel and is valued by Jews, Christians, and Israelis.  There have many many wars and fights over this territory. King David conquered the city in 1000 B.C. to make it the capital of a Jewish kingdom and his son, Solomon, built the first holy temple there 40 years later. In 586 B.C. it was overthrown by the Babylonians and the Jews were exiled. For many years after that, different groups continued to fight over the land. During this time, the temple was  destroyed and rebuilt twice, Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem in 30 A.D., an Islamic prophet named Muhammad died and ascended to heaven in 632 A.D., and European Christians began to pilgrim in the 1st century A.D. which ended in crusaders occupying the city and declaring it ...

Welcome to the Fall 2018 Sacred Communication/Journey blog page. As I have done with this post, enter your name and a subject for the title of each post. Blog entries will be considered informal writing assignments and as such will be graded more in relation to content than style. Blog entries will contain questions and answers to questions, as well as reflections that relate to daily classroom discussions, completion of exercises, and reading assignments. Any questions the student has while reading or completing assignments should be written in their blog. Reflections may relate to connections the student makes between discussions in this class and those in other classes, between arguments raised in the readings in this class and those raised in other classes or from informal conversations. Students are encouraged to apply the ideas learned in this class to activities that take place outside of the class. These applications make great reflections. The student should bring qu...