What is Sacred?
Last week, while composing a poem “Ode (Owed) to Mothers, honoring moms on Mother’s Day, I revisited my sense of the word “sacred.” Clearly, I regard the parent-child relationship as a sacred one. Several days later, as I was preparing an exercise for a group presentation I was about to facilitate, I did the exercise myself. The challenge was to compose one’s own ideal epitaph, which involved memorializing oneself in a maximum of seven words. One of the phrases I chose to portray a premier value of mine was “loved (or championed) sacredness.”
I then asked myself to consider what I regard as especially sacred or holy in life, in addition to family relationships. How would you respond to that implied question? Actually, after quickly listing off a number of things and qualities, I realized I couldn’t limit and absolutely didn’t want to restrict my perception of what is holy in this world or universe. (I also noted what I view as profane.)
Then yesterday, synchronicity graced me with her familiar “sacred smile.” I turned to the reading for that day and the next in the precious and inspiring book Miraculous Living by Rabbi Shoni Labowitz, which I have often turned to for guidance since the book was published in 2002. The book contains a series of daily terse, diverse lessons or reminders. The two concise readings were:
“Your awareness of the sanctity with yourself and the sacredness of all existence affects everything, everywhere. When you recognize your holiness, you think, speak, and act in holiness.”
“You are holy. The choices for continuing to live in holiness are eternally available to you.”
Those remarks, which I don’t suspect I could have said better, offer great pause for reflection and for us to live and grow “into.”
