Lauren Achtemeier: Lane's First Axiom

According to Lane’s Axioms, a sacred place is not chosen, but instead chooses. His example of the clearing in the woods providing the person with an encounter with the deer was a good example of this. It can be true that any spiritual encounter cannot be searched for directly, but instead often takes a person off guard, which leads to the sense of something being profound. In this light, often when I am often floored by something like a sunset, and for that moment wherever I am is a sacred place. It is often in my car, driving down some forgotten country road that I experience a profound moment with God in the water colors of a sunset. If it is truly amazing, I have been known to pull off the road, get out, and experience the sunset view and the surrounding nature. But whenever I have tried to search for something to stop for, I find nothing. This is because of the choosy nature of the sacred place, in a sense it is like cat, for it must come to you for the experience to be worthwhile. The spontaneity of these types of experiences is what makes them exceptional. If you could schedule it into your everyday events, it would become less sacred. Since these moments strike unexpectedly, it is only then that our guard is down and we can experience. These moments are unfiltered, and tend to contrast the typical analytical filter of everything else in life.