Sacred spaces

It's Sunday morning, and quiet. The kids are still asleep, I've had a light breakfast, and I'm enjoying my coffee and listening to the waterfall in my backyard. It's times like these that my mind wanders and thinks of things, often going from one topic to an unrelated topic, like preschool children in a playground. 

This morning I was thinking of sacred spaces, both from the aspect of buildings that are literally consecrated for use as places of worship, to places that can, for a moment, be the focus of intense spirituality.

I have always had a deep respect for faith-based houses of worship. From the serene Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, to Yosemite Chapel. And having photographed many weddings over many different faiths (Roman Catholicism to Jewish weddings), I have an appreciation for these houses of worship built and often consecrated or dedicated to God as places where people can come and be given a sense of hope and renewal. I have been in awe in Roman Catholic churches of the splendid sculptures meant to evoke an emotional connection to the story of Christ's Passion, to the importance of Mary, and to the respect of the Table, or the Baptismal Font, which play such and important part of a Roman Catholic parishioners' practice of their faith. I've been in Baptist churches, where the Baptismal Pool is front and center, taking even more prominence than the Communion Table. All of these places inspire something in me to be quiet, reflective, and contemplative. To me, these are sacred spaces created by man, but also I believe they are created for man, so that we can "go" someplace, and feel the closeness of God in those places, either by their design, or placement of icons such as the cross, or the Chi-Rho symbol. I still have a respect for them, and sometimes I feel a certain something that reaches into me and tugs at my soul. And sometimes, in these spaces, I feel like worshipping God at that moment and time. 

Sometimes, though, I feel that we often can find our own sacred spaces that fall outside the walls of a cathedral, or sanctuary. Sometimes, we can find ourselves in places where the very trees around us whisper that God is present. This is something unique, because it is never planned. I've been in places of great natural beauty and have found myself suddenly trembling, because I realized I was in the very presence of God. It was real. Just as real as you are sitting and reading this. Just as real as the hugs I get from my daughter or the affectionate fist-bumps from my teenage son. And in those places I find that my breath is taken away, and that I do not photograph them, because I am too in awe of the sacred nature of that place. And I go back 20 years ago to the hillside in northern Arizona, where I was in a stand of aspens that had a clearing in the middle, and the branches were arched over, as if I were in a chapel. And it was there that I did feel that God was there. I dropped to my knees, because I knew I was truly in a sacred place.