Curious Christian

Reflections on culture, nature, and spirituality from a Christian perspective

What is sacred ground for you?

Published by

Matt Stone

2009-06-08

When I feel the need to chill out, to listen to God at a more leisurely pace, one of the places I like to go to is Lake Parramatta, an area of native bushland half way between my place and my parents in western Sydney.

For those interested, I have uploaded a number of snapshots from my blackberry onto facebook for you to look at. The photo quality isn’t fantastic but hopefully it conveys some of the rugged beauty of the native Australian bush.

In the bush I can get away from our so called civilization, I have more space to get perspective. There is something sacred about that. So I ask, what is sacred ground for you?

Tags Nature

10 responses to “What is sacred ground for you?”

K. Paris

2009-06-08

Any of the lands around here will do. I love the lush green of the Uintah basin and the harsh beauty of Zion National Park. If I can lean against a tree or the wall of a slot canyon, I am home.

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Matt Stone

2009-06-09

I also like the sea very much, but’s its less accessible so I visit less frequently.

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sonja

2009-06-10

If I can sit out on the rocks with the ocean all around me, or be in the woods where it’s quiet and I can see the little folk of the forest when I sit very still.

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Jarred

2009-06-10

Sitting in my parents’ dining room or on their front porch. It’s a truly divine moment to sit quietly with them, sipping on tea and watching the hummingbirds as they come to one of the feeders, the wild deer and turkey as they hunt for the corn my father puts out during the winter, or the occasional black bear as it wanders out of the woods into the backyard.
I have to admit that growing up where I did, I always find it odd when others talk about nature as something they have to go someplace else to see. Granted, I had to give up some of that when I moved here to Rochester, but it’s still with me. And I think it’s enabled me to find that same sense of sacredness in my own home at times, despite living in a suburb.

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Matt Stone

2009-06-10

Our fauna is very different here but I know what you mean. My parents place in western Sydney backed onto a valley that was too steep to ever be built in, so it was just left wild. So even though I grew up in the city our place was regularly visited by all sorts of native parrots, the occasional blue tongue lizard or red belly black snake, and I once even came a cross an echidna. Whenever I liked I could retreat to the bush and just sit with the trees and birds and lizards. It was great. The place pictured above is not far from it.

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pastasmissus

2009-06-11

Durham cathedral in the north of England

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Sally

2009-06-11

The sea for me, esp when it is wild in winter and the beach is deserted.

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Matt Stone

2009-06-12

Now, why does that not surprise me 🙂

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Dean Tregenza

2009-06-18

You know I took a photo from almost that exact spot last weekend.
It is an amazing place… and so many people who live almost next door don’t even know it is there. Many whizz past in their cars without noticing.
Lake Parramatta park has been a regular place for me since I moved to Sydney nearly 12 year ago. And, it has become a sacred place where I go with my family to feed the ducks (although we are probably not meant to do that) and for the kids to play on the equipment… then we get a milk shake from the cafe.
I had my 30th birthday party there not long after I moved to Sydney. And, it turns out that my grand-father used to swim in the lake regularly back in the 1920s.
My grand-father loved the place – I used to take him there to sit on his favourite bench overlooking the water where he used to swim. He died April ’08 and his ashes are now in a secret place looking over the water that he loved.
I went there on the anniversary of his death this year with my family. While the kids were playing I talked about my grand-father with my mother, and reflected on the ebb-and-flow of life. It was a sad conversation, but gave me some insights into my mother.
Lake Parramatta is a sacred place. It has become intertwined in the story of generations of my family. A place to play, walk, talk, and just be. It is a part of our family, our past, our present, and probably our future.
Shalom

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Matt Stone

2009-06-18

Thanks for your reflections Dean. I find the lake very much connects with my childhood, given its connection to Darling Mills Creek which backs onto the Northmead street where I grew up.

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