Sacred Places

Where do you meet with God? Sometimes, Christians use the term ‘thin places’ to refer to physical places where the ‘veil’ between heaven and earth are thin, and humans can experience God more directly.

The Bible is full of these places. God walked with humans in the Garden of Eden, situated in reference to local rivers in each of the four directions. God met Moses on Mount Sinai, in a burning bush and a dense cloud, with a message that “the place where you are standing is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5). A throne, a place for God’s presence, was carried with the Israelites in the mobile structure of a tabernacle. It was in this sacred place, and later in the Temple built, and then rebuilt, in Jerusalem as a permanent structure and the city of Jerusalem, that God took up residence among human creatures. Within these places, were sacred duties and ceremonial practices such as cleansing and sacrifice, representative of the heart of maintaining right relationship with God. These physical places were spiritual places where the heavenly, spiritual realm merged with the earthly, physical realm. For this reason, the Israelites mourned the destruction of the temples – the image and presence of God in the world had been smashed and defaced, the ruins epitomize both the slander of God and their identity as God’s people.

For Indigenous peoples, all of Creation, and specifically their ancestral land where they have lived for thousands of generations, is that place of encounter and communion with the Creator, of spiritual identity and relationship. In the Bible, God also says he reveals himself through the splendor of his creation - see Psalm 8:3-4 and Romans 1:19-20 for example. 

Indigenous peoples have many ceremonies that honour and renew relationship with Creator, Creation, and community. As Cree Elder Blaire Stonechild puts it, “Ceremonies establish and promote ongoing interaction between human and the transcendent.” (see his book, p. 72) Ntle’kepmx Elder Nk'xetko (Mary Jane Joe), Elder-in-Residence at Langara College, describes cleansing ceremonies by the river, which symbolize the washing away of bad things, and praying with the feather of an eagle, the bird that flies the highest, to symbolize the reverence and connection to the Creator yet higher. Sharing the traditional and ancestral land with settlers in the absence of understanding and respect for these spiritual practices has posed challenges. Musqueam Elder Kwes’ Kwestin describes lament of not being able to continue certain spiritual practices tied to specific locations (streams, mountains, etc) that have been renewed over thousands of generations as settlers have taken over these sacred spaces.

Preserving those sacred meeting places are not only for the spiritual enjoyment of Indigenous peoples. Rather, they understand their role and identity as stewards and protectors of Creation; the duty to protect the land as their sacred duty given by the Creator. As the Assembly of First Nations declares, “Indigenous peoples are the caretakers of Mother Earth and realize and respect her gifts… [they] have a special relationship with the earth and all things in it… based on a profound spiritual connection… that guided Indigenous peoples to practice reverence, humility, and reciprocity.” When they witness the irreverent destruction of the environment they are called to protect, they rightly mourn and oppose the defacement of Creation and the Creator, and the relationships therein.

Questions to consider:

• Where are the sacred places where I have met God?
• What if the land beneath my feet were 'holy ground' on which and through which God the Creator is making his dwelling place with people on earth?