The divine presence that we sense in sacred places is often reinforced by architecture and decoration that reflect our aspirations toward the heavens.  A sacred place requires a clear spiritual focus and separation from its physical surroundings.  The word "temple" (and the associated activity of contemplation) -- Latin templum --means a piece of land marked off from ordinary uses and dedicated to the divine.  Sacred structures provide expressions of, rather than merely a shell for, numinous experience