WordPress Photo Challenge: Place in the World 

The bluffs above Briar Branch

Rock bluffs and flowing water form the walls of my place in the world. These are the places where questions and imagination run free as I walk. In these natural cathedrals, the weights of sorrow lighten. My body finds strength and spirit healing.

Small falls upstream from Marinoni Falls

Natural cathedrals stand in contrast to the manmade cathedrals of my youth, where my imagination wanted to thrive in the beauty but was sometimes thwarted by a legalistic hardness that seemed to demand an unquestioning faith.

My childhood church

I’m still drawn to houses of worship in spite of inner conflicts and my observation that a good portion of meanness in the world justifies itself underneath religious trappings. I love the shapes, lights, and sounds. Is it possible that love and worship are reflected through our personal struggle to reconcile questions and doubts? Does a mindless faith merely show laziness and lack of respect for the holy, the creator?

These cathedrals, both natural and handmade, are my place in the world. They bring me comfort and challenge, a few answers, but mostly beautiful questions worthy of lifelong pursuit.

Indian Rock House, Buffalo River

Read more about these natural cathedrals: Making Time for Marinoni

Indian Rock House Trail – Five Star Trails: The Ozarks by Jim Warnock