Field of Dreams

In 1982 director Steven Spielberg paid $60,500 at auction for the sled "Rosebud," the famous prop from the film Citizen Kane. By today's standards that hardly seems impressive (it might, might cover three trips to Starbucks) but at the time it was one of the largest sums of money ever paid for movie memorabilia.

A few weeks ago the owners of the property where Field of Dreams was filmed announced that they were putting it up for sale. That's right sports/movie fans, you can own 193 acres of rich Iowa farmland, including the house and baseball field that appeared in the movie (corn and the ghosts that come out of the corn not included). Asking price? A mere $5.4 million. What a bargain! Who wouldn't pay that kind of money for heaven...er, Iowa?

Well, Kevin Costner for one. The star of the film was reportedly offered first dibs on the land but said no thanks. Perhaps Mr. Spielberg will step in and buy up some more movie history. Whoever buys the property is likely to do so for reasons other than business. Some 60,000 people a year come to Iowa and visit the ball field but even if they paid $20 a person (as James Earl Jones suggested in the movie) its not a great investment. No, my guess is that someone will buy it because Field of Dreams means something to them. That ball field is sacred space in their minds and they want to have the opportunity to connect to it.

Sacred space is important and in our culture hard it is to come by. Americans move, a lot. Many of us don't live in the towns we grew up in (if we grew up in just one town) and a good number of us don't even live in the same state. The houses we lived in, the schools we attended, the parks we played in, the malls we hung out at are not ours anymore. Someone else owns the house, the schools look different, the parks have changed, and the mall is now full of weird stores like Starbucks.

This is not to say that all of our sacred spaces are gone, rather to suggest that we value the one we have all the more. Sacred space helps us remember the people and events that shaped who we are. Some of those memories are great, others painful, but they are all important. So this summer, if you have the chance and the means, go visit one of your sacred spaces. And if you happen to be passing through Iowa bring your checkbook. For a few million you can have your own Field of Dreams (again, ghosts not included).