sacred spaces

Yesterday I was driving along Route 72 towards Lancaster and I saw something sad. A favorite patch of woods is being taken down. Here is why this patch of woods is special to me.

I am sure when people drive by this section of woods just north of Manheim, they don’t even realize what happened here. But in July of 1868, some 25,000 gathered at this location for the second installment of what was called the National Camp Meeting Association for the Promotion of Holiness. Men such as Inskip, Fowler and MacDonald preached there. People came from all of the eastern section of the United States to experience what they called “Pentecost”.

Every time I drive past there, I wonder what it was like to witness 25,000 listening to multiple preachers at one time. I wonder how the presence of God was manifested. I have driven back into the woods on occasion and tried to imagine what it must have been like. It is a sacred space to me.

Sadly, this sacred space of mine is being removed and replaced with urban sprawl.