Emphasis Preaching Journal

While camping out on the trail, Jacob discovered that his resting place was a sacred place. The next morning he consecrated it as such. In our modern, thoroughly secularized society, the notion of a "sacred place" has all but vanished. The old saying that "Nothing is sacred anymore" is literally true, especially for places. Consider this recent news item which ran under the headline, HIGH COURT TURNS BACK INDIAN SACRED LAND CASE: "The Supreme Court has declined to hear a case involving the alleged misuse of sacred land of Lakota (Sioux) and Cheyenne Native Americans by the State of South Dakota. The high court action leaves intact rulings by two Federal courts that allow South Dakotato proceed with developing for tourism forty--acre Bear Butte State Park. The Indians had contested the building of tourist shelters, camera platforms and a parking lot on the ceremonial site containing Bear Butte, which plays a prominent role in their worship life ... The tribes trace their religious roots back to Bear Butte ... Every year the leader of the Lakota spends four days and nights on the hill in communion with the spiritual world. To the Cheyenne, the butte is known as the 'Learning Hill,' a place where prophets 'were given the medicine arrows and buffalo hat by the high gods' to guarantee the survival of their nation." I wonder what kind of tourist attraction Jacob's "sacred place" has become!