Natalie Gilbert: Landscapes of the Sacred

On page four Lane states, “To experience a place as sacred is to participate, knowingly or unknowingly, in a whole history of cultural tensions and conflicting claims, even ecological shifts in the terrain itself.” After talking about this quote in class I started thinking about how this is applicable to the world around us. I thought that Jerusalem was a prime example of demonstrating this quote. It is a place where many religions hold historically sacred for several reasons. Many different people go there to practice their faith participate in what results in Lane’s study of the phenomenological approach. Jerusalem, as place along with the people that go there, creates an interactive relationship with one another. This reciprocity between sacred place and the people have created much cultural tension. The several religions holding this place sacred through historical traditions have very different belief systems. I believe the city of Jerusalem, ironically mean “City of Peace”, can be considered sacred in terms of Lane’s definition.