The Ministry of Place
We believe that it is our human instinct to make places as a means of making meaning.
What is a place?
A place is an idea – a story – of our own making that orients our sense of self. It provides context in terms of location, trajectory, and purpose.
For example, a house is a physical building designed to be a home for people and others. But, a home is the idea of a place where we belong or call our own.
A house can be a home for a while. But, a person may no longer consider it as such when they move.
For example, an immigrant may visit their, “hometown,” many years after, only to find that it is no longer what they remembered. Their home is where they are currently or even where they want to be in the future.
What is place-making?
Place-making is the act of attributing the creation and/or incarnation of an idea – a story – to a physical location.
For example, we travel to a location that is novel to us – and we come to some kind of realization about life or ourselves.
Or, we go to the same location over and over again for coffee, books, or to meet someone – because we believe that doing so helps us in some way.
These locations (and our activities within them) were not necessarily designed to produce the result that we experienced. Moreover, countless people have visited that same location and have experienced something completely different.
What this means is that what we experienced was of our own making – we were place-making.
What is sacred?
Sacred is place-making that seeks to redeem existence from its limitations.
For example, we do things at the grave-sites of our loved ones that relate to the meaning of life itself and that of our own.
Such activities have been related to organized religion or tribal culture, throughout human history.
Today, sacred place-making is possible (perhaps even necessary) anywhere and at any time – through digital, diversity, and the dreams of the community.
It can be initiated, managed, and completed by oneself.