{"id":779,"date":"2025-04-08T13:02:59","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T12:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rebelrebel.org.uk\/?p=779"},"modified":"2025-04-08T13:03:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T12:03:00","slug":"the-sacred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rebelrebel.org.uk\/?p=779","title":{"rendered":"The Sacred"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Reflection #102 (6th April 2025 at Essex Church \/ Kensington Unitarians)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I first started thinking about this theme as something we might want to explore in a service, I brought it up in conversation with a few friends, some of whom are religious types and others of whom are really not. At first, I was somewhat surprised to find that people seemed to struggle somewhat with the concept \u2013 what precisely does it mean, \u2018The Sacred\u2019? \u2013 but then as I tried to share my own sense of the sacred I realised\u2026 it\u2019s quite a slippery idea. Maybe I shouldn\u2019t have been surprised, given that we often talk of sacred things as being ineffable, somehow beyond our human ability to express in words, too profound to speak of. Still, we try to find a way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

I try not to do this too often, but I think this is one of those occasions when checking the dictionary definition is not a bad starting point, so here we go. Sacred (adjective): Connected with God or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration; religious rather than secular; regarded with great respect and reverence by a particular religion, group, or individual; regarded as too valuable to be interfered with; sacrosanct. That\u2019s what the dictionary says. And it\u2019s a close neighbour of \u2018Holy\u2019, of course, which is defined as: something that\u2019s dedicated or consecrated to God or a religious purpose; morally and spiritually excellent; pure and good; sacred. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve noticed but when you Google a word, as well as giving you the definition, it often shows you a little graph that indicates how the usage of that word \u2013 in the sense of how frequently it is used in published works \u2013 changes over time. The use of \u2018sacred\u2019 has slumped since a high in the early 1800s, hitting a low around 1980, and picking up just a little in recent years. It does seem that the sacred a concept that not so many people have a natural connection to these days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I reached out to more people \u2013 some in the congregation or the wider church \u2013 some without any particular religious or spiritual leanings at all \u2013 to ask what the sacred means to them. And I asked it knowing that it\u2019s not an easy question to answer. A few were just stumped. But the sheer range of things that came up in response from others is noteworthy. Someone spoke of their sense that the sacred infuses all things, but acknowledged that this sense of the sacred isn\u2019t always easy to stay in touch with, day-to-day, so it\u2019s something that they try to actively and consciously reconnect with. Others spoke of sacred objects which hold significant memories of special times, wrapped up with strong emotion, or poignancy. Some spoke of the sacred memories of loved ones who have died, and the places or traditions associated with them, or possessions which almost become sacred relics. Others recalled experiences of intimacy and deep connection which were too precious to speak of. Some recounted fleeting but precious encounters with wild animals, dazzling flowers, awe-inspiring landscapes. Still more spoke of the sacred power of unique and original works of art or music, particularly the collective \u2013 and deeply connecting \u2013 experience of such moments of beauty. Someone described a feeling of beauty and hope that wells up when singing inspiring hymns. And there was even a suggestion that some ideas and values are sacred because we collectively agree that they\u2019re important at a societal level (the example they had in mind was democracy). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There can be a great power in shared experiences of the sacred, when a community gathers round their sacred text, tradition, or ritual \u2013 not something we get to do so much as Unitarians, perhaps, as in other religious traditions \u2013 but this happens in non-religious contexts too (like Liverpool FC fans singing \u2018You\u2019ll Never Walk Alone\u2019, for example, which gives me chills even though it\u2019s not my team; possibly something similarly meaningful emerges among the devotees at a Taylor Swift concert too). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am guessing that at least some of those perspectives will resonate with you \u2013 perhaps they\u2019ll have prompted your own thoughts and feelings about different things that you find sacred \u2013 but each one of us is likely to have our own unique and particular focus at the centre of our private \u2018holy of holies\u2019. In a sense, the quality of being sacred is a property that we, as individuals or collectively, can choose to endow things with (when I say \u2018thing\u2019 of course I don\u2019t just mean material objects, but also activities, experiences, memories, places, ideas, and all the other stuff we just mentioned). We can choose to regard a thing with great respect and reverence, to elevate its meaning, to make it sacred. It is special to us \u2013 to an extra degree \u2013 and, for those of us who are so inclined, in a way that connects us to God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A phrase that came to mind when pondering this topic was: \u2018is nothing sacred?\u2019 That phrase tends to be said when something we previously considered to be sacred has been, somehow, desecrated. Something we thought was accepted beyond question as precious and inviolable has been slighted or dismissed. I suspect a few of us had this thought a couple of weeks ago when the news broke of police bursting into the Quaker Westminster Meeting House, breaking open the doors, and arresting people who were meeting to talk about climate action and peace in Gaza. Paul Parker, the recording clerk for Quakers in Britain, described the raid as an \u2018aggressive violation of our place of worship\u2019. Such actions might offend our sense of the sacred on several levels \u2013 if we have a sense of places of worship as sanctuaries, protected and protective spaces, then it is shocking to see that boundary trashed and realise that these sacred spaces are no longer recognised and honoured \u2013 but more fundamentally we might see the rights to assemble and to protest as being sacred in themselves. Or indeed many of the other basic human rights that are being dismissed and discarded worldwide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a natural human inclination to want to protect the things that are sacred to us \u2013 often we even instinctively hide them away \u2013 and we can be very cautious about who we share them with. These things that are so precious to us need to be handled with care. I particularly wanted to raise this idea of being sensitive to other people\u2019s sacred stuff. Given what we\u2019ve already said about how each of us have quite different senses of the sacred, such different and often unexpected things in our \u2018holy of holies\u2019, we need to be really careful to honour the precious stuff that means so much to others, in ways we might not fully appreciate or understand. It\u2019s easy enough, if we\u2019re a basically decent person, to know that it\u2019s not OK to be disrespectful about someone\u2019s religious tradition or practice, insofar as it\u2019s not harming anybody else. That\u2019s something that we collectively acknowledge is off-limits. But say someone shares with us about a personal sacred thing, something that\u2019s very close to their heart, but which doesn\u2019t hold that same special meaning for us. We might not even realise we\u2019re on holy ground. There\u2019s a risk of being irreverent, flippant, or rude about the thing they hold sacred, and causing hurt. And I would hope that most of us wouldn\u2019t want to do that. We\u2019d want to show respect. On this, in recent years, I\u2019ve picked up the excellent phrase \u2018don\u2019t yuck somebody else\u2019s yum\u2019 as a rule for life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have two tiny examples of this sort of thing in everyday exchanges \u2013 they might seem trivial \u2013 but they are both occasions where a certain casual carelessness crept in and unnecessarily caused hurt. Some time ago, a friend told me that they\u2019d just started a new job in an open-plan office space, and they\u2019d brought just one personally significant item to keep on their desk to keep up morale. It was a sacred object, of sorts, in a modest way. And their boss came in and took the mickey out of this item. They needn\u2019t have said anything about it at all \u2013 if they\u2019d approached the item with curiosity rather than disdain it could\u2019ve been an opportunity for sharing and connection \u2013 but instead it brought hurt and distance. Another example is my own \u2013 for me certain music is so sacred \u2013 so connected with my inner life, or my sense of meaning, or personally significant experiences, that I can\u2019t bear to listen to certain records when other people are around, for fear of some kind of intrusion on that tender and profound experience (that\u2019s why I picked that poem for our meditation, ‘The Sacred’ by Stephen Dunn,<\/a> with the young man whose sacred space was listening to tapes in the car at night, it really spoke to me, or at least my younger self). I remember a time when I shared some piece of music on social media, saying how much I loved the song, and someone rushed to comment underneath \u2018it\u2019s forgettable\u2019. She yucked my yum! Except to use that phrase kind-of makes light of something that did genuinely hurt me in the moment. Those things that are sacred to us are, somehow, part of us, so no wonder we\u2019re sensitive about them. It\u2019s a reminder to be just a little more careful in how we handle and receive other people\u2019s sacred things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I sometimes say in services that \u2018this is a space that we make sacred with our presence and intention\u2019. And I think this connects with what Lochlann was saying about attention. We can intentionally imbue things with this sense of the sacred \u2013 we can cultivate an attitude of reverence \u2013 we can commit to the belief that things matter, they have value, they are deserving of our profound attention and care. Perhaps this is a quality that is somewhat lacking in the world at this moment in our history. Maybe if were more tuned in to the sacred in all things we might be less collectively destructive as a species. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, in the coming days, I encourage you to turn your attention to the sacred. Open your awareness to those moments in which you can connect with God \u2013 or with your highest good, or deepest truth, or most profound sense of meaning. Seek those sacred moments, train yourself to spot them, and maybe you can take them as little cosmic nudges \u2013 reminders of what really matters most in life \u2013 moments to realign yourself with your own personal North Star and to live your best life now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll close this reflection with some prayerful words based on some by Tamara Lebak:\n\nWe gather together to be reminded of the sacred in the ordinary.\n\nThe holy moments of waking yet again to a new day.\nThe feel of the precious earth beneath our feet.\nThe crisp cool sensation of the air on our skin.\nThe joy of being welcomed by our fellow travellers.\nThe warmth of this special place where we meet.\n\nSo help us this day to be fully present in our living, awake to each and every breath.\nRemind us that Life is taking place in the in between as well as in our lofty goals. \nRemind us that the detours and the details craft the path and make it our own.\nAnd help us to remember that though we did not make this glorious day,\nwe have the freedom to greet each sacred moment as it unfolds. Amen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflection by Jane Blackall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n