The Doorway to Heaven

Doorways, secret passages, and portals: all feature in the best science fiction and fantasy novels, but maybe there is a reason why they are so mysterious and yet enticing.

Recently, I have been reading a book called The Sacred and the Profane by Mircea Eliade. I have only read the introduction and chapter 1, but there was a thought in the first chapter that has stuck with me since I read it. In the book, he explains the difference between sacred and profane areas. In 2025, we may need to read the word profane as secular or temporal, as Eliade’s definition of profane is the opposite of sacred, living without God and religion. He sets out to explain that to a religious person, there are two spaces: that which is sacred and that which is profane. These are both important as it is the juxtaposition of these two places that give significance to each. These are both qualitatively different and we will encounter both in our lives.

So, what makes a sacred space sacred? He gives multiple examples, but one is the idea of a threshold.

“For a believer, the church shares in a different space from the street in which it stands. The door that opens on the interior of the church actually signifies a solution of continuity. The threshold that separates the two spaces also indicates the distance between two modes of being, the profane and the religious. The threshold is the limit, the boundary, the frontier that distinguishes and opposes two worlds—and at the same time the paradoxical place where those worlds communicate, where passage from the profane to the sacred world becomes possible.”(pg 25)

When I was younger, I visited the cathedral of Notre Dame on a Sunday during Mass. As I entered this sacred space, even though I am not a Catholic, I felt a difference. The noise from outside drifted away as the sounds of the organ and singers electrified my soul. As I walked along the outer rim of the cathedral soaking in the sights and sounds, my soul was lifted up to heaven and I was able to feel the presence of divinity. And then jarringly, I had to leave and walk out the door. Although the feeling lingered, there was a marked difference being outside, in the secular world once again.

C.S. Lewis describes this feeling as a longing. ““If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” Sacred spaces allow us to enter that other world. These places that are set apart from the world allow us to enter the real world, the world that our souls long for and know exists. We cannot always use our five senses to enter this world but must also use our faculty of imagination to enter that world. S. S. Curry said “Imagination is the faculty which enables man to realize eternity. The ordinary conceptions of the mind cannot embrace infinity, or God. Imagination alone enables man to transcend the fetters of time and space, to see the eternal through the temporal, the spiritual beneath the physical, the soul underlying all.”

As I thought through the implications of this knowledge, my mind was reminded of a picture widely used in my church of Christ knocking at a door. This is obviously a visual representation of the scripture, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8) A critical detail that is easily missed is the absence of a doorknob. Christ cannot open the door. He is knocking, but cannot enter unless someone lets him in. Christ will not force his way into our lives. He stands at the door knocking, and once we allow him to enter into our lives, or alternatively, once we enter his sacred space, and come with a heart ready to understand and believe, then the Holy Spirit can act upon our hearts to tell us truths that only it can understand and perceive.

Eliade continues, “...church shares in an entirely different space from the buildings that surround it. Within the sacred precincts the profane world is transcended.” Going to church week after week allows me to enter into a place where it is easy to meet God face to face, which allows me to change my vision and reorient myself to what is most important in life. Stepping over that threshold is a visual reminder to me of the place in my mind and heart I need to enter into to be willing to receive correction, direction, peace, hope, and guidance that God is willing and ready to give if we are ready to receive.

Alicia Anderson is married to Austin Anderson and they have three children. She loves being a stay-at-home-mom, adventuring, reading, and the great outdoors. She is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.