There are no unsacred places.
Here’s what I take to be Wendell Berry’s theory of culture: “There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places.” If I could only assign one sentence for a semester-long course, I think this might be the one.
Berry’s words run through my mind as I contemplate this meditation on the last week by Diana Butler Bass. It’s as good as it gets. It invites us to contemplate the meaning of the U.S. Capitol Rotunda for all its worth and manages a profound but difficult feat of attentiveness. Why difficult? Because Dr. Bass shows us how to love and honor America without worshiping it. The words and images she gives us conjure her subject and bring it down to a creed with the last, breathtaking sentence. We get to believe, speak, and act into being the Beloved Community we want to see in the world.
Dr. Bass introduced me to Substack. I’m not sure everyone reading her piece (or this one) realize that Substack is a newsletter you can subscribe to. Her steady written expression available to us on this technology has been a gift to me for months. Consider subscribing.