:Vocalo.org

Everyone has at least one special place. It's that place that never entirely leaves you, but becomes a part of you in some little way. Maybe it's the place you met your first love. Maybe it's the childhood fort. Maybe the church you married in, or a dream house, or maybe the site of your first job. I think most of us have a number of these places. Places you'd be hurt to see destroyed. Placed it'd make you sick or angry to see gang graffiti. Maybe it's just some beautiful or favored spot that means something to you. A beach. A favorite mountain. Your church. These can all become sacred spaces. Would you casually shrug off finding a used and discarded condom on the church floor? You wouldn't want someone tossing their empty beer cans under the pews, would you? Cigarette butts? And you certainly wouldn't toss those things on the floor when visiting someone else's church, right? Apparently you're more of a minority than you think. There are sites and articles suggesting that Wicca is one of the fastest growing religions (at least in terms of percentage) right now. Wicca is one--probably the largest--subset of neo-Paganism. One mostly common theme among Pagan groups (and others, too, obviously...) is a reverence for nature. For an admittedly small yet growing number of people, nature is sacred. While I'm not Wiccan, I do fall somewhere near or under that (neo-)Pagan umbrella. When someone asks me where I go to church, I tend to answer, "I pray outside, mostly." Anywhere in nature is my church. Yet what do people leave on the "floor" there? Broken bottles, cans, cigarettes--you name it. Odd are that some of it is probably yours. Now, I go to churches for weddings and the like, and I behave as the guest I am. I'm respectful and mindful of other people's churches, even if I don't agree one hundred percent with the sermon. Maybe I'm more of a minority than I think... Brian Howard, www.thefictionrealm.com