On Sunday Tim and I went to Bandelier National Park to hike up to Cerro Grande Peak (10,199 ft). The well-marked trail starts through a relatively flat meadow, but soon begins to rise through a pine forest. Pinecones and needles were scattered all over the ground. The trail is a little over two miles to the summit and gains over 1,200 feet in elevation. We stopped to catch our breath at times and to notice the beauty of the wildflowers that had risen from the hard rocky ground. There were little white blossoms, wild blue iris, and dandelions on the trail. You also couldn’t help but notice the burnt trees on one side of the mountain, burned in a fire back in 2011. At the summit we had an incredible view of the Valles Caldera below. Also, at the peak there was a large pile of rocks, placed by other hikers. We too added our stones to show that we had been moved by this place, a cairn to mark it as sacred ground.
As I waited for Tim to take pictures I thought of Moses on his mountain, a mountain in which he stops to see a burning tree. He hears a voice saying, “take off your shoes you’re standing on holy ground”. So he does, he takes off the protection of his sandals and feels the ground, he opens his sole and his very soul for what God is about to ask him to do. That story is always a good reminder to take time to savor the beauty of this world, for so often that is where our souls are healed.
I also found myself moved by the pile of rocks, a reminder that although we were alone in this moment on this windy and chilly mountaintop other people had been there too. They too had marked this place as sacred. New Mexico has been such a healing place for me, with so many sacred sites.
A few days before our hike we found our way to El Santuario de Chimayo, a small church in Chimayo, N.M., between Taos and Santa Fe. The church was founded in 1816. It has thick adobe walls and two bell towers. We sat quietly inside on one of the many wooden pews. The stillness and beauty of the sanctuary offered us a moment of peace. This is a place that many people make pilgrimage too as it is believed the dirt in the sacristy has healing powers. Over 300,000 people visit this church each year, many hoping for a cure for physical or emotional wounds.
What I found most moving though was that all around the church grounds, on the fencing, and especially in the garden of sorrow where a statue of Mother Mary stood guard, were the mementos that people had left marked with the names of those they loved. Names were etched into crosses left on the ground, names on blue paper masks tied to the fences, names on photos taped upon walls. Again, it was a sacred place, holy ground as people marked the space with their prayers. I was so aware that we were not alone, their prayers filled the air like the fragrance of the lilac bushes just beginning to bloom. We were in a sacred space, a place to take off our shoes and let our souls be healed. May you too find your holy, healing ground.
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