Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
doi:10.1093/socrel/srq048
Advance Access Publication 27 May 2010
Roman R. Williams
Union University
people continue to make room for the sacred in their everyday lives.
Religion is less apparent at times, but is by no means absent. It continues
to show up unexpectedly. At first glance, photos taken by ordinary people
of the “important places” in their lives—their offices, beaches, bedrooms,
and gardens, for example—contain few, if any, overt references to the
sacred. These images and the stories they represent, however, provide clues
about how people make space for religion across the many domains of
their daily lives. Likewise they cast doubt on the notion of the sacred
being set apart and on modernity’s “inescapable power over people”
(Weber 2002:124).
Drawing from these photographs and narratives, this article explores how
people “make space for God” in everyday settings that are not overtly religious.
1
Photographs in this article are not edited. Personal and place names are pseudonyms.
SPACE FOR GOD 259
FIGURE 1. “I think there’s more to it than that” (Grace Shoemaker)
I like to go there and sit when it’s quiet, and when I’m at the water, that’s when I pray and
I talk to God and um, it’s a quiet place usually. In the summer, it’s not that quiet but other
times of year it is, and I’ve been there when [there] were weddings, and it’s just gorgeous to
see the, you know, the families all together and the bride walking down. And I brought the
kids there, my grandkids, and I often wonder who built it and why, and why that shape and
I’m always curious what goes through people’s minds when they do that kind of thing.
No, I think there’s more to it than that. It’s so pretty. I mean and maybe it was just the
camera, but I think things happen for a reason. I really do, I just, I mean so many times in
my life something, you know, like that where you can give it a good reason why, but there’s
more to it than that. It makes it special.
Total 11 26 27 31 95
a
Subjects were asked if they attended religious services “once or twice a year” (Rarely),
“once or twice a month” (Average), “more than twice a month” (Often), or not at all
(Never).
Think about the places that are most important to you. They may be special because of what
you do there, how you feel there, what you experience or remember there, or who you are
262 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION
with or think of when you are in that place. This might be your kitchen table, a favorite park
or forest, a memorial or statue, your back porch, your church or synagogue, your desk or easy
chair, the golf course where you play, almost anywhere. Often places are important because
of the people in them, so feel free to include people in your pictures.
2
Participants were instructed to take one or two photos (e.g., one with flash, one
without) in at least five places. This total (cf., Table 1) includes duplicate photographs.
SPACE FOR GOD 263
TABLE 2 Photo Elicitation Interviews and Space for God (SFG) by Tradition
Total 95 80 1311 57
MAKING SPACE
Oh, that’s my office . . . . That’s where I spend a lot of my time. . . . [As] I’ve said on the
oral diaries . . . prayer is very much a part of my day. . . . Often I, as a [statistician] I’m a lot
of times trying to solve problems or . . . [find] better ways to do things, and a lot of times I’m,
I just think I really don’t [know] where to go with [a particular problem]. And I will pray and
I really feel like God gives me, you know, a thought that I hadn’t, hadn’t even thought about
and it helps me get on with what I was doing.
Perhaps it is not surprising that a religious person would try to tap into the
power of the transcendent when faced with a difficult, perplexing, or otherwise
challenging job. Likewise, the choice of prayer, which can be practiced in ways
that are not necessarily obvious to one’s co-workers, makes sense in a scientific
context where one may be expected to check faith at the door. The sacred
practice he has chosen might be seen as “private,” but the object of his
practice—how he does his work—is very much public.
The practice of prayer becomes more visibly public when it brings him
together with other Christians in the workplace. Every week he meets with a
small group of men in a workplace snack bar for lunch to “have a time of
sharing prayer requests and [to] pray together.” Not only does prayer inspire
3
In some cases, photographs discussed in this article are not displayed in an effort to
protect the identity of study participants.
SPACE FOR GOD 265
solutions to scientific questions, talk of prayer inspires camaraderie in a work-
place where being a person of faith might be a matter of suspicion.
Religion shows up at work in other ways for Pam Jones, a middle-aged,
African American, mid-level professional who attends her Baptist church a
couple of times a month on average. She also describes God as the reason diffi-
cult situations get resolved and as the source of success.
You know, I do believe that we’re totally not in control of things and because we are so not in
control of things, I don’t really have an explanation. It was God’s will, that was my time to,
wasn’t my time to go the night before driving into the back of the truck [on the way home
from work], and it was time to have everything kind of come together at that point, profession-
ally at that point.
Just sometimes I think we, or I, am a gerbil on the wheel all the time, just running, running,
running and you don’t take time to stop, and think, and listen, and I often ask in time of
daily prayer okay Lord, lead me to the right decisions, what, what do you think about such
and such? Help me to make the right decisions and sometimes because I am going, going,
going, going, going all the time, I don’t have that time of clarity and time to listen and think
about what God is leading you to do.
The pressures of everyday work life and the demands of family crowd out the
narrative that God is in control, working things out, giving meaning to life.
Along with the time demands associated with the roles of professional, wife,
and mother, competing notions of what it means to be successful in each role
sometimes win out over religious ones. In order to recalibrate, Pam retreats to
the family beach house.
The beach is a place where Pam turns off her mobile phone, does not take
her computer, and does her best to tune out work. Because her family owns a
home on the coast, she is able to spend numerous weekends and many holidays
in this quiet and beautiful place, which is the antithesis of work.4 Here she
slows down enough to experience God: “I just think it is the beauty and the
peace that just make me think of God when I am at the beach, and listening
to the seagulls and the ocean or kids playing . . . . Such a blessing” (Figure 2).
4
While access to places like this is class-based, a vacation home at the beach is not a
prerequisite to enjoying nature or experiencing the sacred therein. People from many
income levels access the natural world in ways that coincide with their social status.
266 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION
5
The photo elicitation interview ended with the interviewer asking the participant if
there are other places, objects, or events that they would have taken a photo of, but did not
for some reason (e.g., lack of access, ran out of time or film, too far away, forgetfulness). In
this case, Pam Jones noted that she did not take any photos of her office, so she was asked
what we would find there if she had.
6
1 Thessalonians 5:16– 18 (New International Version) says, “Be joyful always; pray
continually; give thanks in all circumstances for it is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
SPACE FOR GOD 267
FIGURE 3. “I took the picture because it’s like a sanctuary for me, to be able to get away and be by
myself” (Cynthia Gardner)
Psalm 119:97, 105 states, “O, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. . . . Your
word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
268 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION
That’s the chair I sit in (Figure 4). That’s a seashell from the coast. That’s . . . a little bowl
from Ireland, a very small bowl, and these beads, these beads, these rosary [beads belonged
to] . . . . Someone who was very close to me, she called me her granddaughter, I wasn’t, she
didn’t have any children, she had no children. But I was as close to her as anybody’s ever
been, and I had a lot of joy from her and I wish she was still here. . . . I loved her dearly, and
she loved [me] and I pray for her [laughter] a lot [laughter]. And this table was another, this
was a real aunt, and it was grain and she and Uncle Bob both died and I got that and I
painted it black and it works great. But this is—that’s a good space for me.
Where the four walls of Cynthia Gardner’s bedroom confined her space for
God, objects mark out the boundary for Vicki. For both of these women, the
location for connecting with God also connects them with their personal and
family histories.
Sam Levitt, an observant Jew, describes his home office (Figure 5) as a
place where home, work, and spirituality are “totally integrated . . . it’s a place
where I feel comfortable to do work, to pray, and to put my life together. It’s
sort of just a home space for me.” For people like Cynthia, space for God at
home is a refuge from other aspects of daily life, but for those like Sam, home,
religious practices, and work comfortably comingle. Not only are the interior
space and the ritual of prayer important to Sam, so is the view of the outdoors
from his home office. Between the houses he can see the ocean and when he
davens in the morning he is
very conscious of the sky and the sun and whether the sun has risen or not and typically,
while I’m there, [for] several months during the year, while I’m davening in the morning,
I can see the sun rising at the same time. So its very connected to me with the seasons, the
tides that I can see in the ocean, and the rising of the sun. . . . Being aware of the natural
cycles and it’s an important part of the Jewish ritual life. So there are different prayers that
are said at the beginning of the new moon, which is a lunar moon. . . . And because of the
prayers, I would actually say the prayers make me more aware of the lunar cycles. So I know
that we’re half way now between the new moon and the full moon. . . . So, yes, there is an
interplay between the prayers and the natural cycles.
SPACE FOR GOD 269
FIGURE 4. “This is where I do a lot of my praying and studying” (Vicki Johnson)
FIGURE 6. “. . . I’ve always thought that whatever God is . . . can be found more out in nature than
necessarily in a church or a synagogue” (Tom Miller)
Whether he is at the beach, hiking in the woods with his family or dog, fishing
in the ocean, or driving to work, Tom is emphatic that “God . . . can be found
more out in nature than necessarily in a church or a synagogue.”
Theresa Collins, a retirement-age writer and committed member of All
Saints’ Episcopal, also finds God outdoors. Like several other project
SPACE FOR GOD 271
participants, Theresa enjoys gardening as a leisure activity; likewise, it is a way
for her to experience God.
God is the one who put us all here. God’s the one who created us. God certainly, of course,
created the Garden of Eden and all gardens, and I don’t understand how things grow, but uh,
I know that it’s part of the miracle of life that you put a little teensy thing in the ground or in
this case in a pot and it grows. So I, it makes me feel the awe of God’s creativity and power
and it’s, it’s also just, I mean I feel closer to God because he’s up there helping all these
things grow that I don’t understand. And, and the other thing about the garden is, as you
well know, I mean there’s always surprises every year in a garden. Good surprises and bad
surprises. Things that don’t come up or things that come up you weren’t expecting or
whatever, and I just think it’s all part of the miracle of life and the world that God has
created. I just, it makes it easy to understand.
I’ve gotten to the point where I really sort of pray for almost everybody I know by name, so
that it makes me feel close to them as well as talking to God and having, asking God to help
them in their lives and I was told by my niece that I prayed too hard, because she’s, I guess
she’s 37 years old. She’s a “doctor – doctor,” MD/PhD, and she got married a couple years
ago and I started praying on . . . these walks and during my prayers for her that she would
have a baby. Well, she told me I prayed too hard because she’s having twins.
It seems that God listens to Theresa; and Theresa listens to the idea that God
answers prayer and acts in the world on her behalf.
Like many of the interviewees, nature plays a significant role in Theresa’s
religious practices. Likewise, scripture is part of her prayer walk.
So, um, but by the time I get around here (Figure 7), I’m sort of winding up and this is
about the point where I recite the 100th Psalm every day, which I really love, um, “making a
joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands.” It’s a wonderful happy Psalm, and it sort of winds
up my formal chat with God in the morning, and that’s usually what happens when I’m just
coming around this bend here. . . . I just can’t thank God enough for this wonderful place to
live.
Also important on Theresa’s walks are the landmarks that represent memories
and help to time her prayer. For example, a blue spruce along her route, which
she photographed for the study, reminds Theresa of her parents’ love every
time she passes it because her father used to call her mother his “little blue
spruce.” Likewise, when she gets to certain points along her route, she knows
where she should be in her routinized conversation with God. Just as her daily
exercise is structured, religious, and informed by her environment, Theresa’s
day is structured by her walk and the strong spiritual narratives it reinforces.
272 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION
FIGURE 7. “. . . this is about the point where I recite the 100th Psalm every day . . .”
(Theresa Collins)
Total 57 17 43 37
King, university memorabilia), whereas other artifacts may have a more per-
sonal meaning (e.g., a pebble collected from a favorite beach)” (Gosling et al.
2002:380). Along with efforts to reinforce their own sense of self, people
“display symbols that have shared meanings to make statements to others about
how they would like to be regarded . . . . By displaying such symbols . . . [ people]
may be intentionally communicating their attitudes and values to others”
(Gosling et al. 2002:380 – 81). Both types of identity claims are evident in the
ethnographic account above. Cynthia Gardner’s icons, which are located
throughout her home, strengthen her sense of self, and advertise her religious
sensibilities to her children and guests. Pam Jones’ photos of beach scenes are
subtle yet powerful reminders to her that God is at work in the background of
her chaotic work environment. And Andrew Hsu’s Bible verse artwork reminds
him of who he is as an evangelical and selectively presents his identity to his
co-workers.
Not everything, however, that decorates a person’s lived environment is
there to reinforce or project an identity. Other items at home, work, or play
may act as “feeling regulators,” strategically placed there to create a mood,
manage thoughts, or motivate behavior (Gosling 2008:21). The intrinsic senti-
mentality of items such as keepsakes and knickknacks, the history embedded in
furniture and photographs, the cozy feeling of being under a certain blanket or
on a favorite chair, as well as the memories rooted in a garden, beach, gazebo,
or sunset all evoke feelings. And these feelings are often a precondition for
being in a frame of mind conducive to making space for God.
Locations do not necessarily need to be decorated by the person experien-
cing them to play a role in constructing space for God—indeed offices,
beaches, public parks, or forests are less accommodating to a personal touch.
274 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION
CONCLUSION
Modernity, it seems, has not barred religion from everyday life. Boundaries
are more permeable than they were once imagined to be. Religious and
278 SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION
spiritual people carry their understandings of how the world works with them
as they navigate their everyday lives. Those that tap into divine power at work,
home, and play, do so as though it is a natural part of their social world. As
they do, evidence of the sacred is deposited in their surroundings. The nuances
of the physical evidence of the sacred may be overlooked or misread by some,
giving the appearance of a world disenchanted. The sacred is not easy to
discern in photos of the beach, exercise routines, or home offices, for example.
This is not the case, however, for those who endeavor to make space for God
in everyday life. Their practices, orientations toward time, and physical
environments invite—if not expect—the sacred to show up at work, home,
and play. When the sacred transcends personal and institutional boundaries,
the social world becomes more meaningful to the religiously or spiritually
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