By Father Peter Daly, ACLT Board Member & Donor Relations Co-Chair
In medieval Europe, local people came together in a remarkable way to create a sacred space, a place for the human spirit to be lifted up. They built the great cathedrals.
Often it was small towns, like Leon in Spain, then only 7,000 people, that took on a huge, seemingly impossible task, to create giant structures. They did not build for themselves, but for generations to come. They did it because their spirits, their souls needed it.
In many places, like Notre Dame in Paris, it took hundreds of years and successive generations to create and sustain these sacred places. But they did it. They had a vision and they persisted until it was done.
Through its preservation of land, ACLT is co-creating a Cathedral of Nature in Southern Maryland. It is a sacred place for the human spirit. A place where human beings of every religion, or no religion, can find rest and refreshment for their spirits. A place where the cry of the eagle can be heard, the beavers’ ingenuity can be admired and the movement of the breeze can be felt on silent walks through towering trees.
This Cathedral of Nature will be our monument to last for 1,000 years. It will be our gift to the people who come after us. Our task may be difficult, given the pressures of economics and climate change, but if the people of the Middle Ages can build Notre Dame, we can do this. It is our urgent legacy to the future.
We have a vision of a sacred space, set apart to renew our souls.
We have a determination to make this happen.
We can do this.
Together we can create a Cathedral of Nature to renew the spirits of generations to come.
Help us build our Cathedral of Nature by visiting www.acltweb.org/support.
