Us Being Here... Makes Here Holy
We've all become so accustomed to de-humanization that we've started to think of it as normal, even expected. Let's not do that to ourselves or each other.
This life can be really hard. That’s for sure. But a lot of the difficulty? That’s stuff that we create ourselves. And we don’t need to be doing that. The alternative? Living together with the understanding that each one of us is holy… and thus, our very presence in a space brings beauty. Read on….
Learning: A Lesson for You
I’m a sucker for a place set apart.
Get me anywhere in the vicinity of a monastery… or a church or cathedral… or a temple… or a mosque… or anything of the sort… and I will almost always be drawn into that space and want to just… be there for a while.
The photo above is from almost exactly a year ago, when I visited the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. We spent hours in that place. I was in no hurry to leave.
Places like that have rarefied air. Places like that have a beauty that soaks into your being on multiple levels. Places like that are so very special.
What is it about those places?
Honestly, I believe it’s the energy we humans have poured into those walls and air molecules, often over generations. The walls and air molecules weren’t special, at first. But a group of people, at some point, decided they were going to be special… and they began to build and sanction a space…
… set apart…
… from the mean streets…
… and the struggles…
… and all the places they felt less-than…
… and a world that seemed harsh.
Together, they created — and repeatedly sanctified — a space that they collectively decided was going to be holy.
Here’s the thing.
We often outsource our definition(s) of holiness.
We often wait for someone else — someone who we think knows something we don’t — to tell us something’s “holy.” Or we may feel like there’s a disembodied spiritual entity that needs to determine that. But… what actually grants holiness, in the end?
Isn’t it mostly about collective decisions we’ve made… to treat certain spaces, buildings, artifacts, people in certain special, honoring ways… and then, the repetition and consistency of that behavior creates a reality we call… “holy”… and we just keep increasing that understanding, the more we repeatedly reinforce it?
Here’s where this gets really good.
We don’t have to be stingy.
I think about a song I’ve loved for a long time, by a beloved singer-songwriter named Peter Mayer, called “Everything Is Holy Now.”
“I used to see a world half there,” he sings, “heaven’s second-rate hand-me-down. But I walk it with a reverent air. Because everything is holy now.”
Give the song a listen (linked above on its name).
For me, it speaks to what I know from experience: holiness is everywhere.
Have you experienced this?
We’re more likely to see it if we’re quiet and observant. But also, it’ll be there whether we recognize it or not. And we might as well make the decision and effort to recognize it — because our lives will become so much richer, if/when we do.
Here’s another thing I know from experience:
Any place where one or more human beings are gathered… is a holy place. Who we are is sacred. How we are is sacred. And so, whenever one of us shows up to a place on this planet… we innately bless it, with our inherent dignity and beauty.
Part of what makes trauma so… traumatic… is that it tricks us into forgetting the truth of our inherent dignity, beauty, holiness.
And we experience this kind of trauma all the time:
➡️ like in sexual abuse/assault
➡️ like in racism — interpersonal and systemic
➡️ like in homophobia
➡️ like in transphobia
➡️ like in ableism (oh, how sneaky this one can be)
➡️ like in sweeping forces like genocide, or colonialism
➡️ like in epithets and insults
➡️ like in generalizing whole groups of people
➡️ like in creating hierarchies among us
➡️ like in agents of a government besieging and invading a supposedly sovereign locality and violently abducting and/or beating and/or holding at gunpoint — and/or killing — certain citizens that don’t have the “right” skin color or accent or, even if they do possess those things, they’re not behaving in “the right” ways
➡️ fill in your own answer here; there are legions of examples that we humans create, each and every day that we share this planet together
Why are we doing this to ourselves and each other?!
None of it is necessary.
All of it is creating suffering.
Here’s at least part of my answer to that question.
I am a heckuva lot more likely to demean, harm, abuse you — rather than honor you — if I’m detached from my own self, my own dignity, my own beauty, my own holiness.
How will I recognize your holiness…
… if I haven’t even recognized my own?
We are all holy.
All of us.
We all have inherent dignity, and beauty. We are all immeasurably valuable. We are all deserving of gentleness… and grace. We all should have freedom. We all are more likely to thrive when we can live in peace. We all should be able to meet our basic needs without struggle. We all should have plenty of opportunity to find and experience joy. And ultimately, we all do better when we all do better.
So.
The best way for us all to do better?
We start by connecting with and recognizing our own holiness…
… and then…
… we start recognizing, and connecting with, and honoring, and actively reinforcing… the holiness of all of our fellow human beings.
Because guess what?
Holiness doesn’t have to be anything special.
Holiness can be something we experience as just being human…
… and living life in community, with other humans…
… and knowing the miracle every bit of it all is.
Because the truth?
Us being here…
… makes here holy.
Now is the time to reach out and connect with others. Life doesn’t have to be so hard. Your community is waiting for you! Advice when you need it. Been-there, done-thats. Commiseration. Support. A place to vent. Guidance and mentoring. All of this, and more, is what I anticipate happening at Community-Weaving for Fundraisers.
Just fundraisers. Gathering for (virtual) lunch together. Twice a month. Year-round. Chatting and supporting each other via WhatsApp in between lunches. Being there for each other. All you need to do is show up, be present. I guide, facilitate, organize, and create the container.
Conversation: Your Response
Got more to say? Visit the comments section!
Wanna show up for residents of Minnesota who have now been feeling under siege for many weeks? Be the wind beneath our wings! My brilliant friend Ashley created this website: Stand With Minnesota. There you’ll find opportunities to support mutual aid… crowdfunding campaigns… nonprofits working on the ground… and even real-life testimonies about what has been happening here.
You’ll find love. And you’ll find courage.
Because those two things are what have been powering us all through this most difficult time in our shared life together.
Also, I’m calling out a specific campaign raising emergency rental assistance for families who 1) have a kid in early childhood special education; and 2) haven’t been able to work because of the occupation of our city. These families are at risk for eviction if we cannot help them pay their rent ASAP and, according to my organizing buds, this particular group seems to have fallen through all the other cracks (i.e. they are not connected to other sources of support):
Practice: Make It Yours
Remember how we said that the start of this whole reality is that we connect with and honor the holiness in ourselves first?
Yeah.
This is so important.
So.
How do we do that?!
In essence, this means connecting deeply with your humanity.
And how do you do that?
1️⃣ Start by finding a quiet place where you can hear your own thoughts… then take at least three deep breaths, letting each one out slowly… and begin to tune into yourself.
2️⃣ Ask yourself: what do I most need to feel human right now?
3️⃣ Then listen to yourself. And do whatever answer you got from yourself. This could be something simple like a nap. This could be going outside for a bit. This could be playing — with yourself, or a kiddo, or a dog. This could be making something creative. Really anything! Listen to yourself, to find out what you most need.
4️⃣ After you’ve done the thing, reflect: how did you feel before you did the thing? How did you feel during the thing you did? How do you feel now? How do you think whatever you did helped you to feel the way you feel now? Spend some time connecting as deeply within as you can, really feeling into and starting to understand what makes you feel most alive and human.
Is this easy or hard?
I hope it’s not too hard.
If not too hard, try to do this at least once a day. If you struggle with this, try to do it at least a few times a week. Either way, gradually increase the frequency of your practice of this exercise, over time….
Inspiration: Something to Reflect On
We are all connected. What unites us is our common humanity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas what you do… affects the whole world.
Taking that a step further, when you do any good, that goodness spreads — it is for the whole of humanity.
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu
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Yes this. And not just people. Everything everything. I'd like to offer Carrie newcomer's Holy As The Day Is Spent to add to your songlist. :)