https://youtubetranscript.com/?v=AequEqC5Fec
So hello everybody. I have been very busy in the last few weeks. I’ve been doing a lot of traveling I went to South Carolina and Did some talks with some of the Orthodox churches there. It was pretty amazing So I was able to record a bunch of stuff that I did there and will be slowly putting it out on my YouTube channel What I’m going to post today is the second talk that I gave last The end of October last year in Seattle I was at an event with Jordan Peterson and I presented two talks The first talk was the talk on art which I put out a few weeks ago And this talk is one which is related to sacred space and so I know that some of you have been kind of following let’s say the discussion that’s been happening between myself and Jordan and this next talk is a big part of the discussion that we’re having and so after this talk When Jordan went back to Toronto He went over some of the ideas that I that I brought up in the talk and in our private discussions in his Second talk on Jacob he kind of went back on the story of of Jacob and the latter and went over some of the points that I talked about and also because of this talk that you’re gonna see Today and some of our private discussions. This is why recently We’ve seen Jordan talk about the need or the ideal Possibility that we should go to church. Now. Why did he get to that? Hopefully this Presentation will give you a little bit of a hint about about why well why you should go to church. So enjoy this This is Jonathan Peugeot welcome to the symbolic world So the title of the original talk it was supposed to be the truth in space and time and As I was working it through and I was preparing thing I really I ran out of space and of time to talk about time. So it’s only gonna be about space And it’s really it’s really an extension of The truth in space and time Space And it’s really it’s really an extension of It’s the talk is an extension of what I talked about yesterday yesterday I was trying to one of the things I was trying to do is to try to get people to see what it means to enter into these patterns that we talk about and to enter into the frame of References that we need for us to live in the world and maybe even for the world to exist properly And so that’s mostly what I’m going to do It’s the the subtitle of the the talk is also why you should go to church So it’s like metaphysics of space and also why you should go to church. So hopefully that’ll fit together somehow So one of the things one of the things if you were if you were all here yesterday morning and listening to Jordan talking One of the thoughts that he’s presented to us one of the the things that he said right away when I when I encountered his thinking at the beginning that really struck me because it it Seemed to really jive with the way that I was seeing the world and seeing the world through an Eastern Christian perspective through an Orthodox perspective As he talks about the idea that the world in a way is too big That the level of detail in the world is unbearable it goes all the way down to the sub You know subatomic Field and so we can’t when we engage in the world You know if a scientist can stop and maybe study these things But when you are living in the world when you’re walking down the street when you’re engaging with people you don’t live in those Fields you don’t live in those those those fields of existence you have a field of perception and that field of perception has a certain way that it manifests itself and and a way the way that it manifests itself is that human beings are Capable of focusing and so for example like if you encounter a path Like the path that I’ve got in front in front of me. We don’t see all the little pebbles that Make the path up we don’t see all the blades of grass which board the path what we see is a path and There’s something in us and it’s and and and and it’s a in a Christian anthropology we have the capacity to To Participate in logos you have the capacity to participate in the essence of the thing that we’re engaging with and so when we when we Don’t even do it consciously it happens in it’s our human nature that’s doing it We’re not thinking about this when we we encounter a path we see path and we we know to walk on that path So the way that I like to schematize this idea is that The chaos of creation the chaos is described right there in the beginning of Genesis this this Unformed Aspect of creation. It’s still in a certain manner. It’s still there it still underlies, let’s say the the experiential Engaging with the world it’s still like lingers and The world begins the world exists through logos and spirit through word and through spirit And of course like I said, it’s not this is not something that we consciously necessarily do but it is something that we participate in And and and it’s that’s what that’s what I’m going to be talking to you about today. And so The problem is that if as soon as you as you posit a fully independent Cosmos that exists in the way we perceive it without us We run into a brick wall like you run into a brick wall right away because you are the one who is positing that independent cosmos you are positing it from a Existential point of view from a first-person point of view and so it creates a it creates when you start to think about that it can lead you to to madness because what is the relationship between the this independent Cosmos because I mean we’re not positing that the world exists just in our minds like that What is the relationship with its independent cosmos? And then how is it that the human being? Participates in that and what does that mean? in terms of how we are made in the image of God and so The the key to this For to me for the contemporary world has really been st. Maximus the confessor So I don’t know who here knows who st. Maximus the confessor is Okay, so yeah, we’re in the right crowd like at least let’s say one Third of the people know the same maximistic confessor. He was a seventh century saint and one of the things that he did is he tried to take the first chapter of of the Gospel of st. John the idea of the logos the idea of the Word of God who’s at the beginning and by whom all things were made and he Uses that and and he melds it with let’s say the best of what ancient philosophy had to offer and gives us a Cosmic vision a cosmic Christian vision in which each thing each person has a logos and and all those those Logie the plurality of these of these Logie are gathered into us and then our role is to gather those things together and then to Present them to God to kind of enter in this relationship with God and and that there’s this this this unity and this This kind of lifting up of the world towards towards God And so his vision is that the human being is a is a is a microcosm So here’s a maximus So his vision is that the human being is a microcosm that the human the constant human Constituted in a way in that he is he contains The the the the heavens and the earth he contains both the higher meaning qualitative Aspect of creation and he also contains the physical, you know the the earthly part and and it’s in man that those two things are United and so it is our role to name the animals It is our role to give meaning to the world and that meaning isn’t arbitrary It’s not it’s not subjective the way that people think of subjective meaning today, but that we actually Participate and in doing that we are acting in the image of God. We participate in how the world unfolds, let’s say And so there’s a priest and scholar his name is father drag out Barim and He wrote an essay called the anthropic cosmology of st maximus the confessor and it’s really interesting because this idea this note was called the anthropic Principle is an idea in physics that’s that’s quite recent and it and it is the idea that the universe is finely tuned for consciousness to exist in it and so there is this relationship between Consciousness and the the the fact of human Capacity to Consciously see themselves and consciously see the world that there’s a relationship between that and the very shape of the universe so it resembles the the idea of the Man as microcosm who has in himself that say the proportions of the entire universe But there’s also even a stronger version which they call participate Participative and Tropic principle where there even posits the possibility that without consciousness the universe doesn’t fully exist because as a For things to be measured for the proportions to be to be seen for things to have unity there has to be maybe there has to be a a Locust of unity something into which those things kind of come together I’m not a scientist and so I’ve actually I’m really I’m really an artist and so I’m actually kind of Touching science from very far away and looking at it You know I used to actually dislike it quite a bit and it’s actually Jordan who’s who’s kind of Who’s been my reconciliation with science? And so the way so it so this just might sound just like gobbledygook and just a bunch of you know thinking up in the air and so I’m an artist and I the one thing that I understand and the one thing that I can perceive is Space and so what I’m going to do is I’m going to talk about space and how space in our human engagement can exist Okay, and I’m going to show that to you As much as I can As much as I can Now the problem with space is the same problem on a more limited scale as the idea that the world is too big Is that space is boundless right space just goes on? From in every imaginable imaginable direction so I’m going to give you and then we need markers of let’s say we’ll call them markers of place to differentiate Unbounded space from here right from from an actual defined place so let’s say I’m a Sam a pirate and I bury a treasure and I and I bury a treasure in a huge like immeasurable Desert this huge field that has no vegetation that has no that has you know Nothing in it, and I go there, and I hide a treasure now The problem is that I have no way to tell people how to find my treasure There is there’s no possibility for me The only way that I can I can I can help people find my treasure is if I create Markers of place so I say there’s a cactus. Oh, there’s a cactus. It’s that big You see the cactus walk 20 feet left from that you know walk 20 feet in that direction from that cactus There’s a big rock okay, and then walk up from that you know walk 20 feet in that direction from that rock so in order for the the the the Place to exist you need to have Markers of space markers of place and and what happens is they become centers of space they become reference points To all the the let’s say unbounded space that lies around it and so I put a marker and I say here there and from there that distance and so that Marker of place becomes a center okay becomes a here now Once this is going to be abstract for a little while, but don’t worry to land into real life pretty soon Now we can understand right away that certain things just naturally are better markers of place Tall things right so a tall tree a mountain you know a pillar and And those types of things are just naturally better markers of place so you can imagine a group of hunters You know thousands of years ago. They’re in the forest They have to separate and then they say okay. Well look up you see that tree that goes up above everything else well Let’s do our thing, and then we’ll just go meet at that tree Let’s say so people go do their thing and all they need to do is look up They see the marker and then they can converge into a place and so there. They’re just certain things that that function naturally as markers of of place And the the road sign is the is the easiest way to understand that and it’s it’s fully natural to our experience Some of these things are hard to think about because they’re so natural And they’re so part of our world that we don’t think that they have a form like we don’t think that they have a shape You you can’t make a road sign that’s a flat marker on the ground You you they would be absolutely stupid to do that because how are people who come to it are going to know what it is They have to come right up to it and look at it on the ground you lift it up on a pole And then everybody on the different streets can just look up and they can use that as a reference For them to know where they are and what these directions are okay? So if you if you if you think about that just for two seconds you realize that it is the it is the ground of really strong presuppositions that we have we of Ways that human engage with the world maybe even without thinking that that’s what they’re doing and so for example Trees obviously are a Perfect example of that like I said and the tree in the garden of Eden has that function as well Tree is in the center of the garden. It is the the axis of the garden It’s the axis of the world It’s the reference point by which the space of the garden finds its reality It’s the ultimate here right the here of the entire cosmos would be that tree In the garden, and that’s why as Christians we say we find ways crazy There’s all these crazy traditions Which try to find ways to tell you that the cross is made out of the wood from the tree That’s in the garden because we want people to understand that the cross is the same thing as the tree in the garden it is the center of space the center of Christianity and it acts as that as that pillar to which we all look at as the reference of where we are and who we are So we can see that it really is the basis of basic basic things that we know and that we do and we don’t think About like for example a flagpole has exactly that function Right the idea of raising a cross or the idea of planting a flag planting a flag on the moon Like why it’s like it’s the most absurd thing if you if you don’t see how there is something innately in us Which understands that a vertical marker has that sense of here This is a place now and it’s a place if I put a flag of the United States on that pole It’s a place that marks my identity relating to this place I Own this place, okay So The idea is that a flag like I’d say a flagpole, right It doesn’t it doesn’t just mark a place in an arbitrary way so you can you can imagine people Standing around and then looking together at the flag and what it does is it says these people are In the same place and are participating in the same identity as they are looking at the same place Identity as they are looking at that flag together It’s not even a metaphor It is actually creating unity Relating to a specific identity. So it’s it’s it’s actually happening There’s a story In the bible that talks about this. There’s a few i’m going to give you a good example and one of the and the the The best example is the story of Jacob So I’m going to read the i’m going to read the actual text So Jacob is is going out to find his wife. So he leaves his home And he’s going to find his wife. And so in the in between he’s in this no man’s land He’s in the land of the foreigner he’s in the land of the like he doesn’t know he’s traveling somewhere else He’s in he’s an in in between space. So it says when he reached a certain place He stopped for the night because the sun had set Taking one of the stones there. He put it under his head and lay down to sleep He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth With its top reaching to heaven And the angels of god were ascending and descending on it There above it stood the lord and he said I am the lord the god of your father abraham and the god of isaac I give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth and you will spread out to the west and to the east to the north And to the south all peoples of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go and I will bring you back to this land I will not leave you until I have done what I promised to you So when jacob Wakes up from so when jacob awoke from his sleep He thought surely the lord is in this place and I was not aware of it He was afraid and said how awesome is this place? This is none other than the house of god This is the gate of heaven so Jacob is traveling To find his future wife He comes to a vague somewhere like it doesn’t say where it just says he comes to a place Or he doesn’t it’s just nowhere just some place on the way Uh, it’s not a it’s not aware yet And so he stops and he lies down On a specific stone And he has a dream He dreams of a ladder Which reaches from hearth from earth unto heaven and on the ladder angels are ascending and descending At the top of the ladder there is god. Of course in christian terms we would say that at the top of the ladder was christ It was the logos and that’s what is traditionally represented as being at the top of the ladder So what we have is a vertical connection between heaven and earth between meaning identity and the undefined still chaotic space in which he is sleeping And god says I am the god of your ancestors. I am the god of who you are right I Am the god I am the god of the origin of your identity Now this place where heaven and earth meet will become the center And the marker of a space which will manifest your identity Right so god has already said I’m the god of your ancestors and now he says I will give the land to the extension Of your identity to your descendants who will extend Your identity out from you and they will spread to the west To the east to the north and to the south and they will become like the dust of the earth So once again noticed how this is the establishment of a particular place Out of which one can measure the four directions because you know the four directions don’t exist in themselves There are extensions of points of reference Right there is no place in the world that is objectively east or objectively west Places are always west of something east of something So seattle is west of montreal but is east of japan right without that Fulcrum without that here there are no directions So jacob wakes up And he’s somewhat terrified to have had this revelation And now it’s his turn to say Here This place is a center of space. It’s the house of god And why is it the house of god? It’s the house of god because it’s the gate of heaven It’s the place where the house of god is And why is it the house of god it’s the house of god because it’s the gate of heaven It’s the place where I found where i’ve established where i’ve been given an identity in space And an identity for my lineage Right by the god of my ancestors So, what does he do? He puts up a stone Ah, he takes the stone from under his head and he puts it up as a pillar the vertical marker of place And then he anoints the pillar so i’m not going to go into the symbolism of anointing But but let’s just say very briefly that to pour oil on something from above in order to set it apart Is exactly to say this this thing This place right when you anoint a king it’s to tell all these people There’s a crowd of people and everybody looks like they’re they’re just you know A mass of people and then I go up to one person and I say This person and I pour oil on their head and I say this person And it raises that person up above the others to become the marker by which the others are Identified with okay, so to pour oil on a pillar has the same function just to say this Place And so and then Jacob names the place which is important he says this is bethel this is the house of god So one can understand that the pillar isn’t just this vertical thing right? It’s not just a Marker that marks out place, but it’s a manifestation. It’s a way to show the inner Vertical ladder which he saw in his dream. So the the the visible pillar reveals the hidden Bridge the hidden relationship between meaning and facts between the the heaven and the earth And so what’s important to understand is there’s always two Aspects of a center of space the first is the invisible part right the invisible part of why I say Why there’s a pillar why there’s a marker in the first place. It’s the invisible logos invisible reason which binds something together It’s why i’ve chosen a place You know in the first place. There’s always a secret reason why I say here Right why I say now There’s a reason why I do that it can be home it can be you know School it can be and that is the secret reason why I give a marker to to to a place So the idea is that chaos is gathered into a point into a purpose And and and the the purpose the ultimate purpose let’s say especially in creating a sacred space The ultimate purpose of creating that point of reference is to show the very process by which that happens is To show it’s to find a purpose that the purpose is to find a purpose. You know, it’s it’s a meta purpose it’s it’s the showing that the the the We create a center to show everything else how it works how we participate in the world how it is that the world works through these axes through these fulcrums which which which which then Spread out into into the world So in jacob’s story we see really see like the positive aspect the positive active of space This idea that it’s like you plant a seed, right? And then this seed then spreads out into the four directions We have this image of the tree in the middle of the garden as the ultimate axis of the universe and out of those out of the tree the four uh, the four rivers flow in the four directions to spread out until the ends of the world and to mark the world as a continuation of that one sacred pillar and if you look at Representations of the cross especially representations of the cross in the first centuries of christianity They would put the cross And then at the bottom of the cross they would put these four Rivers the same rivers as the river in rivers of paradise to say that the cross is the same Axis the same pillar which marks the the the the center of the universe out of which all our reference All our references point to you So so so in jacob’s story, it’s really the positive aspect, but there’s another story which shows the negative Aspect which shows what happens when the pillar isn’t there or what happens when there is no marker of Here a marker of us right a marker of of now and it’s and we see that in the story of moses um, so in the time of moses when the israelites Had fled egypt and were wandering in the desert The israelites had been complaining And so god sends serpents to bite them Right, so what’s the first thing we say why god is a bad dude and religion is stupid right sending snakes to bite people so We can say that or we can pay attention for a few minutes And see that that this is actually talking about the nature of the universe Now there’s a relationship between being bitten by snakes and complaining Now that doesn’t seem obvious on first reading but it’s really there to complain Against god is to disassociate yourself to distance yourself from the source of your being Right. It’s to say that the source of all things shouldn’t have done things the way that they’re happening now Right. I am in discord with reality And to complain isn’t to make things better better either right it’s just to grumble about how unfair life is So the israelites they complained when they were in egypt and now they complain when they’re no longer in egypt And everybody knows people like that and sometimes we’re the people like that You know someone who complains complain when they were single they complain when they’re married and they complain when they’re divorced Right, and and it’s never their responsibility. They’re in They’re in there they refuse to align with reality right they come and to complain is to doubt And to doubt is to fall into chaos And i’m not saying there aren’t moments to doubt obviously there are moments to doubt but When that happens for better or for worse? It’s to lose the thing that binds us together That’s what doubt does okay whether it be those things that bind you together as a person Uh, you know or or that binds you to the people around you or it could be that binds you to a scientific theory It doesn’t matter when you doubt all of a sudden something that seemed to be holding together You start to think that no it’s falling apart or that it it doesn’t it doesn’t it isn’t holding together So when you doubt you fall into this at least a momentary chaos until you find something to bind you again and to bind things together again So this image of chaos in the form of snakes rising up and biting people who complain and doubt is actually quite sensible in this case Okay so in order to fix this Moses has to make a bronze serpent he puts it on a pole and lifts it up you know as a pillar of some kind And for those Israelites who looked at the snake were saved from the chaos and those who didn’t they gave in to the chaos and they died So Moses set up a marker of a unitive place in the chaos it becomes like this axis that I’ve been telling you about And those that were willing to participate in this newly defined space this newly divine place that was given uh because you have to picture it in your head right You have to picture all these people dying you know and then Moses takes you to the place and he takes you to the place And then all together all those that turned their heads and looked together at the same thing in the same direction towards this center Right you have to see it in your mind because then you realize that You know the simple fact that you as a person or that you as a group or in any situation that you are if you are capable of rallying in unity And looking above the pettiness of what is devouring you and find the thing that binds you together that is the cure to the chaos always is the cure to the chaos And so by looking at the serpent all together they were literally creating unity inside the camp of the Israelites And it was not a metaphor they were coming together looking together trusting in one point trusting in one thing and finding that unity which solved the problem of everybody bickering in their corner So let me give you an example today Standing in unison looking at a flag and pledging in unison or singing in unison your trust to that flag And to what it binds together in terms of identity doing that is an act that binds It doesn’t signify unity but it is an act of unity in itself an act which limits chaos because we are all directed towards the same identity But when we doubt when there is discord and people no longer willing to trust to look together to that flag let’s say Well the serpents will come soon and there will be division and if it goes far enough people will die in the streets And like I said I’m not saying that there is never a moment to look away to pull ourselves away from the makers of unity There are moments in history where we wish that more people had done so but if we do pull away we should do it understanding with reflection With the knowledge of the consequences and the awareness that the forms we have the forms that bind us together are not arbitrary And chaos is always at the door So the pillar is one way to mark space it’s almost like the possibility of space There is another way to mark space and that’s to contain space And the simplest way you can think of doing that is by tracing a circle right tracing a limit which binds a place So the line the fence the wall is to show the boundary of influence right a protection from that which is not under the influence Of the identity which binds us together in that space in that place So we put a ring on our spouse’s finger we put a circle around them and we say that belongs to me And that other person we belong to each other right and that and the visibility of the ring and I don’t have one because my wife is wearing mine It’s like I’m showing my finger and there’s no ring there The visibility of the ring acts as a warning that this person belongs to someone already So you can see how the pillar doesn’t necessarily have to be represented for the secret pillar the secret connection to meaning is found So I tried to find the example that is the closest to everyday life that I could think of Because I’ve been taking you on some abstract thinking so I’m sorry about that So the notion of putting your things in a bag to contain them I have to get this right because it’s difficult So the idea of putting yourself your things in a bag to contain them you ask why would you do that There is no obvious reason for an iPhone or gym shorts and a water bottle to be together in the same place There’s no natural reason for that But there is a reason there’s a secret reason why those things are bound within a contained space So the secret reason is maybe you’re going to the gym and so all of a sudden that reason that identity is contains those objects together in one contained place And so the secret pillar that secret pillar which connects all of those things together to heaven in a very little way It’s a very little pillar to heaven It’s very small going to the gym but it is a logos it is a reason why those things are coming together to create a unity So the circle this boundary can multiply itself into many borders in separation And this is all in order to show this progressive dilution of identity out from the borders So that might seem weird but it’s actually we do this all the time It is the most natural thing in the world So for example imagine you’re a settler in the Oklahoma land rush of 1889 And you go out amongst the mass of people and you’re all rushing out into this land So then you find a spot where there’s no one and you stake your land And then you say here mine this place belongs to me it will manifest my identity in a particular place So maybe what do you do maybe you make a fence around your land Especially at the beginning when the chaos is still kind of going on You want to make sure that everybody knows that that’s your land And you don’t even have to make the fence very tall You don’t have to make it so that people can’t go over it You just have to trace it So that anybody who comes across that fence and is wandering around your land They know and you know that they’re in your place And that maybe they’re trespassing So then maybe then you build a house And you have a porch on your house And the porch on your house is nice because strangers can come You know come into your land They know they’re in your land And they come to your porch And then you can open the door and then you can engage with them You can trade with them, you can talk to them And you actually don’t have to know them that well It’s okay because there’s this part of my identity that is more outward And then you go inside and then maybe you have a living room And then within the living room then you know acquaintances can come and sit with you And people that you’ve met and that you’ve talked a little bit with You know a little bit more they come in and they sit with you in your living room Then you have your dining room And there you sit with your close friends and you have dinner together And then finally you have your bedroom And you’ve created a little bit of a space for your family And you’ve created a hierarchy of intimacy That moves from the unbounded outward world Through the stranger, to the friend, to family, and then to you and your wife maybe And that space of your room is for you and maybe for a few members of your family And strangers know not to go in there I don’t know, you know, why do they know that? Why do we know not to go into someone else’s bedroom? That hierarchy of intimacy And the movement from the outward world into that hierarchy of intimacy Is necessarily a movement from the many into one It has to be It’s the very nature of a circle The very nature of any concentric space which moves into the outside It’s moved out from unlimited multiplicity into the unity of one thing One thing that binds it all together So it can be for your own self Let’s say it would be that intimacy of yourself But it can also be for a society like I talked about with the flagpole It has the same thing All these people are around the flagpole But then there is this one thing, this unity It’s not a matter of the number of people It’s not a matter of the number of people It’s not a metaphor It’s like, it’s really that It’s happening That one flagpole is acting as the point of unity for all this multiplicity So in the story of Jacob Jacob is there at the pillar, okay? He vows to serve the god of his ancestors He gives the reference point to the land And he gives the place a name But in an important way He is also that pillar in that case Remember that the pillar was identified with his head It’s not arbitrary why his head and the pillar were identified together And then his descendants spread out away from the central pillar Becoming more and more in quantity Moving in all the directions And then becoming more and more in quantity Moving in all the directions And then becoming like the dust of the earth Reaching innumerable and uncalculable quantity So we have quality in the center And then quantity moving out from the quality But the question is I’ve given you like a basic idea of this And I want to show you how it works In society And especially how that works in Christianity So I’m going to give you a little bit of a background So I’m going to give you a little bit of a background So I’m going to give you a little bit of a background So I’m going to give you a little bit of a background So now we’re in the centre So now we’re in the center So now we’re in the centre So now we’re in the centre So now we’re in the centre So now we’re in the centre So now we’re no stop So now we’re no stop So now we’re no stop This universe is simply being formed This world is being formed This universe is simply being formed And that is the role that Christ, who is the God-man, who is the ultimate unity of all of divinity and all of humanity together, that is the role that Christ plays. And that’s why the cross becomes the center of the cosmos. And so the church does that. That’s why church buildings have traditionally always been the highest building, right? That has just been something that until very recently was commonly accepted. You know, you can imagine yourself in a cathedral in England or in Constantinople in the 11th century and everybody in Constantinople, anywhere they were in the city, could look up and see the cross on the dome as the marker of this space, of this, of who we are. In Quebec, where I’m from, it’s very stark because the way Quebec is made is all these small villages that are out in the woods and out in the countryside. So you’re driving in and all of a sudden the first thing you see peek out is the church spire. And you know, by seeing it, you know that that’s the center of town. That’s where the church is and then that’s where the mayor is, that’s where the bank is, that’s where all the things that define that town are. There’s an amazing painting by Millet which shows the the prayer, the Angelus prayer. And you can see here the church peeking out. Sorry? Okay. And so these peasants are out in the land, they’re working their land, right? And then suddenly out of nowhere from the church spire itself, from the church tower comes this ringing of bells. And then that everything stops. Then all the peasants in all the lands without even seeing each other, they know that they’re all stopping and that they’re praying together. And the source of that prayer, they can all look, they can turn and see the church spire, the church, the church tower there as the marker of the unity of their village, as the marker of their unity with all of Christendom at the same time. And so they are, for that single moment, they are fully participating in their own, in the ultimate reality and their ultimate identity. And the church, the actual physical building of the church, it unites the two types of spaces that I talked about. It unites both the vertical space, the idea of this high marker that we can all look towards to, but it also is created in a way that is built with the inner concentric space as well. Now here I wanted to show you this. This is a medieval representation of a town, right? And it’s schematized to show you what the town is, what it is. And you can see it’s the same image I showed you of Jacob and his pillar. And so in the center of the town is a cross pillar that rises up above everything and then from that pillar there are four roads, four directions, four gates, and then a wall that binds that village in all its totality. And so the inside of a church has the concentric model now. The narthex of the church, which is the buffer zone here, this is where people, at least in an eastern church, that’s where I’m from, so this is where people come from. They come into the narthex and the narthex is like a buffer zone between the inside and the outside. So it is part of the church, but it is the place where the church communicates to the outside. And traditionally, you know, in ancient Christianity that’s where the catechumen would be brought when the time for communion came. The people who weren’t fully yet baptized in the church would be taken out of the church and would wait in the narthex and then they would shut the doors of the church for communion to occur. And so it really was that, and those catechumen are the transition between the inside and the outside. They are physically, literally, that transition and so they enter into their space. And then we have the nave where the faithful gather. Then we have the sanctuary and in the sanctuary is mostly for clergy. And then in the sanctuary you have an altar and then on the altar you have a cup. And then in the cup, see where I’m going, there is this amazing concentric movement which brings it to this invisible place, this place which is the place where Jacob put his head down on the rock. It’s the same place. It is a pillar between heaven and earth which will then be taken, distributed out to the faithful in food and then those people then go out of the church, go out into the chaotic world carrying that identity, moving out into the field, doing their work and then looking back and seeing the church spire in the distance and remembering. Memory is the thing that binds us to that pillar when we are not, let’s say when we move out from the pillar. There’s reason why Christ say do this in remembrance of me. When I go to the gym and I take my things out of my bag and I put my water bottle on the chair, that water bottle is still in communion with me even though it’s not in my bag anymore. I put it on the chair but it’s still in communion with me because I remember that water bottle. Despite the fact that it is distant from even the bag in which I put it, the memory of that water bottle will make it so that when I leave I’m going to pick that up and put it back into my bag. So as we move out of the church, as we move out into the chaos, the memory of God is what keeps us connected to God. So if you just take that one thing and you remember all those stories in the Bible, the story of Noah where at the lowest point of the flood it says God remembered Noah. If you look at the story of Jonah where down in the bottom of the whale in his lowest point it said Jonah remembered God, that memory of God reaches down into the depths of death, to the depths of hell. And what’s mostly important to understand when I’m talking to you about about this is that I want to help people to see that this is not a metaphor. When we go to church, when we stand together, when we look toward the altar together, when we sing in unison, you know, when we bow down before the altar, why do we bow down? We bow down to acknowledge this thing. We acknowledge what is the marker that unites us together. What is the source of our being? What is the source of our existence? We make ourselves low to participate fully in that. And that’s something you can’t do as just a mental game. If you’ve never physically laid your face to the ground, you know, before the altar, if you’ve never bowed down, you don’t know what it is completely to participate in that. When we go to church, it’s not a metaphor. We are participating in an actual unity. By all the things that we do, there’s nothing that’s arbitrary. Everything that we do is for us to participate fully in that movement towards that invisible pillar, in that movement towards the cross, towards the tree in the garden. All of that is happening physically, right? And to do it physically is to make your whole being part of that process so that when you leave the church, so that when you move out, the memory of communion, the participation in communion follows you in the deepest way that you can imagine. And then the memory of that communion becomes the thing that brings you through until you come back together, physically together in that space and recite things at the same time. You know, you have no idea what it does to people to recite things simultaneously, right? There’s reasons why, like, there’s reasons why totalitarian regimes have people do that, because they know that it binds people. But what does it mean when we can do that for the highest thing? We’re not doing it just for an ideology, we’re not doing it just for some political utopia, but we’re doing it for the very source of who we are and the very source of everything. So I think that’s what I wanted to present to you today, so thanks. So I hope you enjoyed this talk on sacred space. There are a lot of things happening very soon. The next movie interpretation I’m going to do will probably be the Matrix. I’m working on that right now. And there are quite a few more videos that I’m working on. It takes up a lot of time, so slowly I’ll be putting these out as I have more and more time to do this. I still have a few spaces left for my carving class in June, so if you want to spend a week with me, check that out in the links. And also, yeah, so support us on Patreon, share our stuff, and I’m always happy to read your comments. I’m not answering as much as before because I’m just so busy, but I read all the comments and I think about it. So yeah, so I’ll see you in the comments and talk to you soon.