Finding the Sacred in the Everyday
We look for the Holy in special places.
We look for the sacred in places and and practices where we have found the sacred before, or where other people have found the sacred. We visit places of spiritual depth. We try to relive the things that brought us a sense of closeness to the Holy in the past.
We are not trying to earn enough points to experience the sacred. We are not trying to align enough of our lives to become spiritually adept enough to connect to God. We are not trying to take our spiritual life to the next level.
The Holy, the sacred, is all around us. Spiritual depth surrounds us and fills us. God draws us ever closer.
The spiritual journey is not about feeling a certain way or recapturing a certain experience. The spiritual journey is about opening ourselves to the presence of the Holy in our lives no matter how we feel.
We do not need to go to a particular place to find the Holy. The Holy is present everywhere.
We do not need to follow specific practices to find the sacred. Practices help us develop our capacity to appreciate the sacred in our lives.
Our challenge is not reaching a certain level at which we become spiritual. The spiritual journey is not a game in which we can gain momentum, or even win.
Our challenge is receiving the spiritual depth that is eagerly waiting for us.
As a spiritual director, I talk with people who are concerned that they have done something to injure their relationship to what they hold sacred. Together we find new spiritual depth in everyday life.
Where do you find spiritual depth in your everyday life today?
What practices could help you appreciate the sacred in your life in new ways?
[Image by Oberau-Online]
2 Comments
D'Anne Hotchkiss
July 8, 2012I find the sacred around me whenever I am in my gardens. Especially after I have tended to my plants and take time to sit on the bench and enjoy the beauty that is surrounding me, the beauty we have created together, God and I.
Strategic Monk
July 9, 2012Thank you, D’Anne. I spend as much time as I can in nature. I especially like to visit the big trees north of here, walking and listening to the silence. Walking along the ocean is another place I can be quiet and spend time listening to the sacred silence. The monastery where I am connected is in Big Sur, which has both the trees and the ocean!
I am blessed to live in a place where I can spend time on a beach, in a forest, or in the mountains.