Landscapes of the Sacred: The Ordinary as Mask of the Holy, Blog #5

Landscapes of the Sacred p. 65-72

Mythic Landscapes: The Ordinary as Mask of the Holy

            The majority of this book focuses around the central idea of these ordinary places, that when seen through faith and spiritual connections are made extraordinary like the second axiom states. This idea relates to the idea of incarnation in the Christian faith. In incarnation, something that was regarded as ordinary and simply is no longer what it appears to be. Since the ordinary has now become holy in Jesus Christ, the everyday common things, actions, and relationships are regarded as newly defined extraordinary things. In this section, the author states, “Christianity is simply the process whereby men and women are restored to normal humanity, reclaiming everyday existence (p. 66).” This way of describing the incarnation is an interesting one to me, because I have never heard it explained so simply. I like this saying, because it is a way to help connect the ordinary to the extraordinary or supernatural that so many people are uncomfortable with or cannot do. Some people are uncomfortable with this relation, because it seems dishonorable or like they are defying the sacred complexity of the two sides to their faith. Defining or trying to set the boundaries for describing this relationship is difficult and not one which many people can seem to figure out quite yet. The book refers that in order to simplify this schema and retain the sacredness of the relationship at the same time, a theologian needs to look at it with a poet’s ear. That is because the theory is that a theologian will better be able to construct this idea of the cosmos between the holy and sacred life or place.