From the caves of Altamira to the newest purpose-built sacred space, humans have decorated, shaped, and made spaces to engage one another and to open ourselves to receive the full presence of God, of the holy. Or have we used sacred spaces as a way to keep the holy distant and to shield ourselves from the divine encounter. Looking at architectural patterns of early Christian churches and other sacred spaces to create twenty-first century spaces, we look to the implicit messages in the space and to ways that a space invites spontaneity, freedom, awe, courage, and joy.