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When you are most likely to experience a glimpse or deep feeling of "The Sacred", where are you? What are you doing?
This moment, when the world seems suddenly clear, both beyond and inside comprehension -- is precious. It is a moment when everything inside us is entirely alive and quickened. Yet at the same time we are at peace.
Shattered and reborn in an instant, these moments of awareness, of complete mindfulness are rare. It is inside these flashes that we see clearly that which is beyond ourselves; yet we have no name for it. That vague shimmer in the distance that glistens on the horizon, rushes forward, filling our eyes with wonder.
We are left gasping at the magnificence of it all; and, because it is such a personal experience, we are unable to fully articulate what has happened. But each cell in us knows the truth in it.
One of the most powerful occasions of The Sacred for me occurred when I was with a Native American friend taking his 4 wheel drive truck (with permission) into a very remote area of the Grand Canyon.
We had to stop to open and close and pass through gate after hanging gate, each warning us that we had better have water with us and be driving a 4 wheel drive. At first there were low natural ridges of rock on either of us. The late spring sun was beating down on the red and brown stones. We turned a slight corner between rocky outcroppings, and the area widened, and the walls of rock went higher -- about 30 feet on either side now, and full of even more colors like a deep violet and a sandy brown.
Then another turn, and suddenly we were in the confluence of three canyons, with walls of rock reaching skyward on either side in every imaginable color - from yellow to orange and red and violet and black -- with all hues in between. The floor of the canyon was made of chunks of fallen rock, mostly light colored. Here and there were huge flowering bushes.
The sun beat down from a brilliant blue sky, and left shadows on the rock, making it stand out even more. This was no simple beauty. This beauty was complex and savage, cut with a rough blade.
We had driven over 50 miles from the main road on a dirt road to find this place, and once finding it, had driven 8 miles into the canyon itself. The driving was slow and arduous - those 8 miles took almost 3 hours. We would stop occasionally, turn off the engine and just stand somewhere, looking off in the incredibly deep silence. The buzz of an insect or the cry of a bird were the only sounds.
It made me want to pray. Not just want. It made me yearn for silent prayer. For whatever could connect me more deeply to the universe -- to those things I could see, and those I could not.
In so many ways, it is a place I return to in memory often. Thinking of that day refreshes me still, renews me, reminds me that life is deep and empowering.
Yet not all experiences of The Sacred are that large and dramatic. The other night when my rescue pup, Zoe, jumped up on my bed and gently curled her little self into a ball under my armpit and rested her trusting head on my shoulder and slept, I thought, "There is such beauty in this little moment." and the world's door to The Sacred cracked open enough for me to feel the rush of well-being coming through.
Tell us -- where and when or how do you experience The Sacred?
Mata H, CE for Religion and Spirituality, also blogs at Time's Fool
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