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Landscapes of the Sacred: Geography and Narrative in American Spirituality
This substantially expanded edition of Belden C. Lane's Landscapes of the Sacred includes a new introductory chapter that offers three new interpretive models for understanding American sacred space. Lane maintains his approach of interspersing shorter and more personal pieces among full-length essays that explore how Native American, early French and Spanish, Puritan New England, and Catholic Worker traditions has each expressed the connection between spirituality and place.
A new section at the end of the book includes three chapters that address methodological issues in the study of spirituality, the symbol-making process of religious experience, and the tension between place and placelessness in Christian spirituality.
A new section at the end of the book includes three chapters that address methodological issues in the study of spirituality, the symbol-making process of religious experience, and the tension between place and placelessness in Christian spirituality.
328 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 12, 2021
*to be enjoyed alongside reading Wendell Berry (I presume)*
Lane’s reflections on what it means to do theology from a place are insightful, but I might seek them in an essay format, rather than a book.
Lane’s reflections on what it means to do theology from a place are insightful, but I might seek them in an essay format, rather than a book.
October 27, 2020
In this calamitous year our connections to places and spaces have been heightened. We were/are isolated in domestic spaces. We walked our neighborhoods. Many of us gardened and landscaped. We also couldn't go to places that we enjoyed, found meaningful, that inspire or comfort us. In religious communities there was the acute realization of the importance to many of us of the places we worship and fellowship and that online versions were but a pale and inadequate shadow creating significant spiritual loss.
I had enjoyed another Belden Lane book and this one has been sitting on my shelves to-read for a while. This year seemed fitting. I grabbed it and began it while three days of spiritual retreat in the Nebraska Sandhills at Kamp Kaleo, our denominational campground.
In this book Lane explores the particulars of American spiritualities of place and space. He opens with a discussion of how all sacred spaces are storied spaces. The vast middle section of the book examines various spiritual approaches to place from Native American to Catholic Worker. In this section I found two things particularly lacking--no examination of place/space in African-American spirituality or any discussion of what Eastern Religions have contributed to a sense of place (surely a discussion of Gary Snyder would have been easy?). I personally most enjoyed the chapter on the Puritans.
The book then concludes with the tension in Christian spirituality between a sacramental sense of place and an apophatic tradition that emphasizes transcendence of place. In this section he discusses the need to deconstruct the ways in which landscapes are always constructed (a brief discussion of Simon Schama's wonderful book Landscape and Memory). And how Christianity disciplines us to see the sacred in the places we want to ignore.
As I contemplate how to spiritually direct my people this winter, building on some work I did last spring, I can imagine a pilgrimmage in place, focusing on the interior life and attention to the details in our ordinary spaces. My mental wheels are turning.
I had enjoyed another Belden Lane book and this one has been sitting on my shelves to-read for a while. This year seemed fitting. I grabbed it and began it while three days of spiritual retreat in the Nebraska Sandhills at Kamp Kaleo, our denominational campground.
In this book Lane explores the particulars of American spiritualities of place and space. He opens with a discussion of how all sacred spaces are storied spaces. The vast middle section of the book examines various spiritual approaches to place from Native American to Catholic Worker. In this section I found two things particularly lacking--no examination of place/space in African-American spirituality or any discussion of what Eastern Religions have contributed to a sense of place (surely a discussion of Gary Snyder would have been easy?). I personally most enjoyed the chapter on the Puritans.
The book then concludes with the tension in Christian spirituality between a sacramental sense of place and an apophatic tradition that emphasizes transcendence of place. In this section he discusses the need to deconstruct the ways in which landscapes are always constructed (a brief discussion of Simon Schama's wonderful book Landscape and Memory). And how Christianity disciplines us to see the sacred in the places we want to ignore.
As I contemplate how to spiritually direct my people this winter, building on some work I did last spring, I can imagine a pilgrimmage in place, focusing on the interior life and attention to the details in our ordinary spaces. My mental wheels are turning.
January 17, 2019
Belden Lane intertwines personal experience and essays with scholarly case studies in American spirituality in relation to place, from Spanish and French piety from the 16th and 17th centuries, to Shakers, Puritans and many others. Erudite reflections how physical location informs spiritual experience and imagination.
March 10, 2011
Lane's work is always something that I love to hold, savor, and pour through - his bibliographies perpetually set me loose on at least a dozen new authors that I need to check out, and I find his continuing exploration of geography, narrative, the via negativa, and Christian spirituality to be absolutely fascinating. Dude's also a nice and friendly fellow, kind enough to answer my email to him (admittedly dangerously close to 'fan boy' status) regarding how much I appreciated his work without making me feel like a twit.
That being said, I enjoyed this book a great deal, but prefer 'The Solace of Fierce Landscapes' if forced at gunpoint to choose between the two. Definitely recommended if you enjoy Lane's work in the slightest.
That being said, I enjoyed this book a great deal, but prefer 'The Solace of Fierce Landscapes' if forced at gunpoint to choose between the two. Definitely recommended if you enjoy Lane's work in the slightest.
May 14, 2014
Not my favorite from Lane (that is Solace of Fierce Landscapes), but a very helpful approach to American spirituality of place, across religious traditions. It could be organized better.... But I have marginalia on nearly very page, and the 50ish pages of footnotes provide years of additional reading. I will use this heavily as I continue to study and write on this subject.
December 29, 2009
Really liked the premise--that both cultural forces and some essence of the landscape play a role in creating sacred space. But the case studies he presents don;t go the distance. There is also potential (not fully realized) in his blending of scholarship and creative nonfiction.
November 14, 2012
Interesting book. If your a religious studies major or just find the many faucets of Christianity and Catholicism interesting, this is the book for you.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews