“Immediately the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness for forty days being tempted by Satan.  He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.” – Mark 1: 12-13

There seems to be a rhythm to Jesus’ journey of life and ministry: solitude in the wilderness, by lakes and on mountain tops; and then, surrounded by crowds in the synagogues and cities.  Though mostly, at least in Mark’s gospel, Jesus prays, teaches, and heals out in nature.  Even when he tries to get away for some solitude and prayer, the crowds follow Jesus out into the wilderness.  I think this pattern of Jesus’ ministry has been too often overlooked by the Church, especially where adults are concerned.  At least our kids get the chance to go to one of the ELCA’s best ministry resources, church camp, for a week every summer.  I know a lot of them are pretty posh, to compete with all of the other camps vying for our kids’ attention, and their parent’s money.  But only at church camp will you discover that there is something incredibly special about evening worship around the campfire, singing and praying to God under the starry night sky.  

 

Bright moonlight

How are the two sacred spaces of nature/wilderness and synagogue/sanctuary interconnected in terms of the spiritual journey?  What is missing if you have only one experience of sacred space and not the other?   If you go out to experience nature and the wild without knowing Who to pay attention to, or how to listen or how to speak, you’ll largely miss the communion that God offers.  In the same way if you only listen to God, or pay attention in the sanctuary, the Word and words and rituals become cut off from the rest of life in the world.  In the sanctuary you are taught the Story, given the vocabulary of faith, brought into the living relationship with God through water, bread, and wine.  In nature the Story literally comes to life, you have the words to think and say, you know the patterns to look for and Who you are looking for, or Who is looking for you.

How have your experiences of nature and sanctuary informed your faith and shaped your spiritual journey?