A Holy Week…

“Is it possible, I asked myself, that I’m being summoned from some deep and holy place within? Am I being asked to enter a passage in the spiritual life ― the journey from false self to true self? Am I being asked to dismantle old masks and patterns and unfold a deeper, more authentic self ― the one God created me to be?”
― Sue Monk Kidd, When The Heart Waits

As many Christians immerse themselves in the Passion of Jesus Christ this “Holy Week,” I invite you to consider how you can either add to your religious tradition’s experience, as appropriate, or create your own by contemplating what is holy for you.

What if spending some time in silent contemplation led you to the “deep and holy place within” that Sue Monk Kidd describes in the quote above? What would that sacred place invite you to consider as holy in your life right now? Time in prayer? Laughing in joy with loved ones? Tending a garden?

In speaking to writers in her beloved classic, Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg said:

Our task is to say a holy yes to the real things of our life as they exist…”

I love the idea of a “holy yes”. What or whom can you say a holy yes to this week to honor your faith or bear witness to your love of the Holy One? Whether it is immersing yourself in the depth of the suffering of Jesus to more ecstatically celebrate the triumph of the resurrection on Easter or in being more present to the holy in your daily life this week,  may you be inspired to honor the sacred.

May you find a uniquely meaningful way to experience a Holy Week. And may you find silent time to be nourished by the love and wisdom found in the holy place within.

A Holy Being

The Promise

“Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.”
― Martin Luther

As Christians walk the path toward the blessing of Easter, Jews prepare for the beginning of Passover at sundown this Friday, and Muslims continue the holy month of Ramadan, may we all immerse ourselves in the holy work of praying and acting for peace.