"sacred space"

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I just got a phone call from a student at a nearby college. Fiona said she had to do a paper for her religion class and wanted to examine a "sacred space."

"Sacred space?!" my mind exploded as I bit my tongue hard. What "sacred space?" And of course what she meant was the zendo and of course I will put on my robe and rakusu before she arrives at 1030 tomorrow and of course I will give the zendo a quick cleaning ....

But, but, but ...

"Sacred" is defined by an Internet dictionary this way:

-- connected with religion

-- considered to be holy or connected with God in a special way

-- so important that you should not change, question, or criticize it

 

The word "sacred" is pretty sacred, I guess. To question or criticize the object or situation it is attached to is considered somehow gauche or ill-mannered or loutish. 

But it seems to me that if one thing or another is sacred and to the extent anyone opens his or her heart to that sacredness, then it is absolutely imperative to examine where such a designation arose, who credits it and what is being credited. How the hell else can the sacredness of anything be revealed?

Being a bimbo for God really strikes me as foolish ... understandable, perhaps, but foolish for sure.

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