What Is Sacred?

There is nothing so secular that it cannot be sacred, and that is one of the deepest messages of the Incarnation.

-Madeleine L’Engle

For most of my life, I pictured something like this upon encountering the word “sacred”:

Or this:

Or this:

I pictured cathedrals, pews, heads bowed in prayer. Only very GODLY things. I thought that there was sacred and then there was the rest of life.

It was the experience of bringing my first baby, Wyatt, into the world when I first connected the deeply physical with the deeply spiritual. Birth was a “thin place” between the divine and the natural. I was there physically, in the room, and at the same time, not there. I was connecting to a deep well of strength I didn’t know I had, and it was incredibly transcendent.

As that sweet baby emerged into the world, crying and covered in blood and vernix, and I fell to the bed, exhausted and elated, the sacred looked messy and beautiful, hard and glorious.

I began to see the sacred all around me. It was in the joyous moments of birth, and also in the saltiness of tears.

A few years later, I came across Gary Thomas’ excellent book, “Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul’s Path to God”. Gary beautifully lays out the way that humans connect to God uniquely and personally, and every path is sacred. Where some are more cerebral, others feel closest to the divine on a hike or playing the violin.

In this season of intense mothering and work, I am finding such nourishment in small sacred moments. They look a little more like:

• Full on mouth kisses from my 1 year old Marshall. He’s more of a dry smacking kisser than a wet, slobbery kisser which is appreciated.
• Time in the garden noticing the monarch butterfly resting on the trumpet vine. Inspecting for signs of new life in the spring. Harvesting tart gooseberries in the summer.
• The warm, golden glow of the setting desert sun on summer evenings.
• The sound of music filling our home while Stephen sits at the keyboard with music he’s written, Wyatt doing his guitar lesson, or 3 year old Emmett making a joyful (at least loud) noise on the drums. Lately, 1 year old Marshall turns the keyboard up to max volume and sing-yells to match. Sacred indeed.
• The delight of cutting into a perfectly ripe avocado.
• The satisfaction of a good morning stretch.
• Beautiful summer meals shared outside with friends.

What a relief to realize the whole of my life was in connection with the divine. Every good thing comes from the Father of Lights. All of it was pointing to the goodness, the creativity, the unending kindness of God.

I let out a sigh of relief. I could stop trying so ding dang hard. Loading the dishwasher was sacred work. Chatting with the neighbor over her garden was sacred conversation. Taking a deep breath in a hard moment was a sacred reset.

The most human parts of you are actually also the most sacred and the most beautiful and the most made in the image of God.

-Sarah Bessey

The thing I can’t get away from, the thing I keep finding, is that God is just incredibly bigger than I thought. He’s here, with me, in the highest heights. In the deepest depths. And in the most mundane of ordinary moments.

What are the small sacred moments giving you life today?

Sending love this week friends,

Alicia