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About the Author
Trudy Rankin was born in the region of those who live close to the dirt and cornfields of North Dakota. She remains as one who connects to the earth through avocation and lifestyle. As a first generation Irish and second generation Dane, she identifies European roots deeply within her psyche. The land and elements truly feed her Soul. These are the influences of her personal sacred space.
In the context of professional choice, Trudy has provided sacred space for healing. As a Registered Nurse, Trudy has sought alternative therapies of treatment for healing throughout her professional career. In her work as a psychotherapist, she has maintained a holistic private practice incorporating spiritual, emotional, rational, and physical modalities for wellness and personal growth of the individuals that she works with. With recent completion of a doctorate in Pastoral Counseling, she has contributed to the research base of the study of resiliency for individuals and families.
Trudy has bridged spiritual and psychological dimensions with her in depth study and work of Carl Jung. As an active Christian laywoman, she provides consulting in the areas of spiritual formation, wholistic heath, and expressive therapies.
Trudy is married to a United Methodist clergy person. She has recently faced the grief of accepting the transition into New Life of her youngest child. She enjoys her extended family, especially new Luke, the son of their daughter.
Trudy brings to the writing on Sacred Space personal reflections of how holy space is created as a ritual for reflection and healing, as learned from her life experiences of joy and grief.
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I appreciate the opportunity of sharing these thoughts with you through this ministry of our community together in thought and prayer. I have concluded that sacred space is created whether we are conscious of the making of it or not. We all seem to create sacred space intuitively. We express it through relationship, in the awe at viewing a rainbow, through the silence of a good fishing hole, or in the remembrance of a person’s need beyond our own concerns. Children as young as three are known to create a quiet, listening space in their play. The provision for the recognition of the holy is a natural response within the human psyche.
We, annually, remember the birth of the Divine into the midst of humanity with the celebration of Christmas. The Christ energy manifested in the life of Jesus so long ago. We, as Christians, build our faith on the foundation of this belief. The crèche, or nursery school, has become the icon of the holy sacred space, which was prepared for the birth of this Christ energy. It was nurtured in this sacred space and worshiped.
Perhaps, the establishing of a clean and suitable setting in a medical facility for births could be seen as the creation of a sacred space, if respected as that. The birth of the child into the arms of the parents creates an aura of mystery. The awe of the miracle of creation is expressed in this most holy encounter
I consider the birth of Jesus in a manger. Joseph searched for the right safe and protected space for Mary and this new child to be comfortable. In his search he went to great effort to find adequate accommodations for her. It was not easy to find. Yet, in the raw and instinctual space of the stable, even there, he and God created the sacred space for this child to be born. Joseph put energy into his attitude and attention of the search for the space and his making it suitable. In a cave, or cow stall, or stable, or hotel, wherever this event happened, the space became sacred before the birth by the humble willingness of Joseph to make it holy.
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