What is “holiness” for you? Do you think it is a quality that belongs to times, places, prayers, objects, or people that are special?
I find inspiration in the words of Abraham Joshua Heschel, who wrote about our ability to perceive neutral moments in our lives as opportunities for exalted moments, moments of sanctity. Spiritual care providers support people in various moments of crisis and, together with them, try to identify what is sanctified in their lives. At those dark moments, we explore what they have chosen to ascribe the highest significance to in the past, what is holy in their eyes here and now, and how that specialness finds expression in their daily lives. We discover how each person creates in their life “touches of holiness” in encountering someone close, in a dear memory, in a personal ritual, in a marvelous corner of nature, or in an uplifting experience.
Let us wish for ourselves that we know how to identify opportunities for integrating moments of uplift, touches of holiness, into our daily lives.
