Opinion: Religious sanctuaries are under attack. How do communities begin again?

Two houses of worship were recently attacked within days of each other. In Michigan, a man rammed his truck into a chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, opened fire and set it ablaze . In Manchester, during Yom Kippur, a man rammed into worshippers outside a synagogue and began stabbing .

Two communities. Two continents. Two sacred spaces under assault in the same week.

Both were attacks not just on people but also on places of peace.

We often use the word “sanctuary” to describe the rooms where we pray, from the cavernous, awe-inspiring architectural triumphs that make us feel small in the best of ways, to the cozy, intimate chapels that envelop us in the warm embrace of community.

But sanctuary means more than that. It’s any place — physical or spiritual —