Building A Chapel La Capella

In the middle of a small clearing, surrounded by old-growth juniper and piñon trees, and with the strength and expertise of two talented artisans, I built a small rock chapel.

Why? Maybe just because. That’s my answer (usually unspoken) when friends and strangers ask why.

Are you Catholic? No, not big-C Catholic, that is—but yes, small-c catholic—in my wide-ranging spiritual thoughts and contemplations. I’m as interested in the beliefs of Wiccans, Muslims, and Jews as I am in those of monks, nuns, priests, and popes.

Did GOD call you and tell you to build a chapel? Not exactly… or not at all.

For many years, the idea of having my own chapel intrigued me. I could light candles and place interesting objects on an altar… I could sing in solitude.

As a child, I made secret, chapel-like hiding places in my backyard, in the woods, or in places I went to be alone—to escape and to commune.

There is a small stone capella on a hill overlooking the road to a house where I once lived. I never climbed to it—just acknowledged it and pretend-coveted it every time I drove by.

And then...

Time, ongoing inclination, and other circumstances combined to make building my own chapel a possibility—and finally, a reality.

I am calling it “The Little Chapel of Peace” until another name emerges. World Peace is its/my private mission here at seven thousand feet, on a remote road, thirty miles from Santa Fe. Friends have brought small milagros to place in the rock crevices. Maybe people will send me small stones from other countries, and I will find places for them somewhere in the hard folds of this strong and humble peace offering to the world…

Yes, I’m a dreamer.