My Values

To find my values, I have used the task we were set in class. The values that I try to incorporate into my life are:

Fun
Success/Achievement
Family/Friendship
Perfection
Respect
Honesty
Love
Happiness
Integrity

Fun is important in my life because without fun, life would be very boring and stupid. An example in my life that shows this is that most of the time I have a lot of energy so I am always running around, being silly and having fun.

Family and friendship is also extremely important in life because basically, you incorporate values from them. Family and friends are there whenever you need it, even if it is just for love and support. One of the worst things I can imagine, is if I didn't have any family or friends.

I am a perfectionist, so I try my hardest wherever I go and whatever I do. Therefore, a perfection value is apparent in my life. For example, I love running, but I dread cross country because I know that I am not going to win, even if I come in the top 10, I am not too happy because I was aiming for a podium position.

Respect, integrity and honesty is important in my life because I was brought up to have these values, and I want to be the best person I can be.

To put all of these values into my life, I can pray to Jesus to help me through the day and for me to be the best person I can be. I usually prefer to pray when it is quiet and nobody is around because it is then easier to 'travel' into the chaos realm. It would then be sacred space because I am encountering God's realm (divine world) and leaving the profane realm.

I would also learn from the mistakes I have made during the day, and try to work harder at the values I need to incorporate into my life more.

The Double Bubble Map

Using a double bubble map concept, I am going to compare two different articles, looking at what's the same and what is different about each other. The articles I am going to compare are 'Churches see essence of christ among the helpers, survivors', and 'The Pope, condoms,and aids'.

'Churches see essence of christ among the helpers, survivors' is about the recent victorian bushfires, in which many hundreds of poeple were killed and injured. It is about the love and generosity that the helpers and survivors have, helping everybody get back on their feet and giving the poeple the support that they need.
It is also about how is has made an impression on the survivors, making them see God, and thinking about the essentials of life. It has even made past churchgoers come back to church, and knowing what is important in life - God.

'The Pope, condoms,and aids' is all about how AIDS are spread, and whether wearing condoms can help. The Catholic church is trying to prevent AIDS from spreading, and they come to a conclusion that AIDS is spread through homosexual relationships and that wearing condoms may help, although the Pope disagrees with condoms. But, in the African context, this idea was less effective, as AIDS are spread through heterosexual relationships.

Below is my double bubble map: (click it for a larger view)

Hillsong Worship Video

This worship video is of Hillsong - a popular christian band singing From the Inside Out. It is very successful in creating a sense of sacred space.

First of all, the sheer size of the setting would be amazing, thus creating some sort of sacred space and reminding people about the holy. Also, the amount of excited people full of adrenaline would also contribute to the sacred space feel. The lights and smoke would be very effective as well.

When the band starts playing, everyone would be cheering and the great noise of the instruments and singers would travel right through everybody, and again they would be reminded of the amazing creator - God. It would send goosebumps up their spine.

At 25 seconds into the video, it shows a person with their hand in the air. For this person, it would be like trying to reach towards God, praising Him, leaving the profane world and travelling into the chaos realm. Therefore, sacred space is apparent. This is also showed at 38 seconds, and at other various times throughout the video. The people also close their eyes, making it easier for them to leave the earthly world.

When the music reaches a climax starting about 2 mins 36 seconds into the video, the music would fill their body, and I think it would feel like the Creator is right there in the room. This is made more effective also because of the amount of people singing together, creating a feeling of sacred space.

All of these things is what I would feel if I was at the concert and all of them contributes to the sacred space and thinking about God, the Creator, the Holy.

The words of the last verse of the song are:

Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart
Is to bring you praise
From the inside out of my soul
Lord my soul cries out

These words can help create the sacredness feel and the idea of the holy - extreme goodness. "From the inside out of my soul, Lord my soul cries out" shows the holy as perfection and extreme goodness. It shows how poeple reach out to God and the holy the sacred space. The holy is "never ending", and "everlasting".

Coventry Cathedral - Sacred Space

Coventry Cathedral

On the 14th November 1940, Coventry Cathedral was bombed, leaving just the spire, towering above the ruins. Instead of rebuilding the cathedral, it was decided that it should be left to symbolise destruction and remembrance.

Shortly after the destruction, the cathedral stonemason, Jock Forbes, noticed that two of the charred medieval roof timbers had fallen in the shape of a cross. He set them up in the ruins where they were later placed on an altar of rubble with the moving words 'Father Forgive' inscribed on the Sanctuary wall. Another cross was fashioned from three medieval nails by local priest, the Rev Arthur Wales. The Cross of Nails has become the symbol of Coventry's ministry of reconciliation. HM The Queen laid the foundation stone on 23 March 1956 and the building was consecrated on 25 May 1962, in her presence. The ruins remain hallowed ground and together the two create one living Cathedral.

Coventry Cathedral is now both a tourist attraction and a place of worship and sacred space. The church uses many decorations and architectual objects to create this sacredness.
For example, the statue 'St Michael and the Devil' depicts St Michael overcoming the devil. St Michael symbolises the strength of good over evil.

I think that when the public sees this statue, they would have a sense of hope and strenghiness to overcome the devil and because of this, it is a sacred space for many people.

Another example is the baptistery window inside Coventry Cathedral, which symbolises 'the light and truth breaking through darkness and confusion'. It consists of 200 glass panels, through which the rising sun illuminates the font.
People would have a sense of awe when they see this window probably because of the size and quantity of the panels. They would have a sense of sacred space.


In the main body of the Nave are five pairs of windows which can only be seen when one looks back from the High Altar. Each pair guides the visitor through a biblical journey. The pair nearest the West Screen show the artists’ impression of the Creation. The next pair represent the early followers such as Adam & Eve and Moses. The third pair signify overcoming difficulties and temptations, and the fourth pair display death and sorrow. The final pair show Heaven as the spiritual aim of the Christian and a just reward for a godly life.


At just under 300ft high, the Tower and Spire is the fourth largest in England. It was erected as a monument to the townspeople’s piety and is adorned with stone carvings of kings, queens, apostles and gargoyles. Miraculously, the Tower was untouched by the Blitz which otherwise devastated the City. Every day, on the quarter hour, the bells are rung and, during the summer, people can climb the steps to the top of the Tower.

The sound and feel of these bells would give the poeple an experience of holiness and it would probably feel like God was there in the town looking after everybody. I think some poeple would think of the bells as sacred space.

Coventry Cathedral is very successful in making sacred space. The sheer size of the church is enough on its own to create it, becuase whenever I see something huge and awe inspiring, I feel a sense of sacred space and at peace with the world. The statues and stained-glass windows are also effective in creating that feel.

Also, the quietness and feel of the church would make me feel like God is there, and the organ and worship music can make the church have the feel of sacred space.

Sacred Space - the Sacred, the Profane and the Holy

Sacred Space is where the sacred (holy - or 'extreme goodness') connects with the profane (secular). It joins the cosmos (what traditional societies saw as their own territory or world, often created out of primordial chaos by the gods) and Chaos (the world ‘out there’ where nothing is ordered, but where the gods live) realms.
What I don't understand though, is how could God's world be named as Chaos, when chaos means a state of extreme confusion and disorder. God is perfect and I cannot imagine His world with disorder and confusion.

Religions tend to see the world divided into 3 levels, Heaven, Earth and the Underworld. They are connected by axis mundi which is a vertical feature that symbolises the centre of the world and connects the 3 cosmic levels together. For example, the medieval map below is an example of axis mundi because it connects the chaos realm (God) to the Sacred realm - Earth (Jerusalem).




A second example is the light memorial for the world trade centre, 2002, because the light connects/points to the Heavens, the Earth and the Underworld. It is also a sacred space because many people come to the light memorial to seek God and to remember those who died in 9/11.

I don't know whether the light memorial was a good idea, because I think that the public would think of it as a tourist attraction, and forget those who died or was injured in 9/11. I think a nice garden or park would have been a much more successful memorial.

Sacred space can include Imago Mundi (image of the world) which is a term to describe how people attempt to represent the connection of earth with the divine. The picture below is the shape of an old church which was built in specific way (a cross), so that the Chaos realm could look down from heaven and see the perfect shape of a cross.

I haven't been brought up in a Christian family, in fact my dad is thoroughly against it and I am kind of scared to read a bible in his presence. My mum is kind of a christian although she doesn't go to church or anything like that. I am finding it difficult to be a christian because of these things, but I definitely believe in God and that He is my saviour.

I don't have a particular sacred space location, although when I see something truly amazing, I feel awed at what God has given us and I find myself thinking deeper. I feel like I can connect to the chaos realm easily and like I am leaving the profane world. Some music can help me to reach this mind state although after I have connected to God it kind of disappears as I am thinking.

A place where I have felt this sacred space in the past was lying on the ground looking up at the clouds. The sky is such a huge place covering the entire world with many different cloud shapes. I imagine what it would feel like to be up in the sky. This leads to me thinking about God and Heaven and I feel like I connect to the chaos realm.

Right now, as I right this blog, I am looking up at the sky to feel what I felt that day, I can see the birds, the trees, the sky and the clouds. I feel at peace with the world and I sense God. When this happens I try and pray, and I feel like the holiness is filling up my body.

What is Religion???

Religion is the human involvement with the divine or sacred. It uses thoughts (stories and statements about reality), actions (rituals, worship and ethics), and social forms (fellowships, community and group traditions). Religion is a system of symbols with deep meaning and it is there to give answers for 'ultimate questions'. For example selfhood questions - Who am I? Where did I come from?, Meaning questions - Why am I? What's true?, and Purpose Questions - What do I do? What is the purpose of Life?

There are many common aspects to religions such as:

Practical & Ritual

Experimental & Emotional

Narrative or Mythic

Doctrinal & Philosophical

Ethical & Legal

Social & Institutional

The Material

A good way to express our own religious views is to use a Y-Chart with three sections - Feel, Sound, Look.

At the present time, I think religion is:

Feel - Love, Peace, Joy, Scared, strict guidlines

Sound - Chanting, Worship music, wind, singing, quiet noise

Look - Spirits (not human form), Light, Fire.