People declare holiness. They deem it to be on the authority of an outside higher power, but how can anyone confirm that? If God is as mysterious as tradition tells us there is literally no way we should maintain certainty. Divinely inspired or otherwise, holiness is a human construct. Yet that doesn’t mean it’s less special, sacred, or even less divine.
Why do we try so hard to read God’s mind? Why do we insist upon delving into circular logic around ideas by which we can only ultimately become frustrated? We must know it’s impossible to determine God’s definition of holiness. And while some may feel comfortable in believing that information has already been given, there is no widespread consensus. All think they are correct. Most disagree with each other. The debate is perpetual; to the point that some might consider the debate itself to be the divine purpose. That we may first talk to, and then with, one another. Wouldn’t an all-knowing God recognize that things have been left vague enough to argue about it? The religious paradigm claims we are fully known and loved. The vagueness is there on purpose.
The fact may be, in contemplating holiness we can’t see the forest through the trees. We are so close to the argument it’s nearly impossible to see the truth. Perhaps it would be gentler to assume holiness from a different angle. That of uniform perfection.
Most world scripture, and science as well, claims that all of existence is connected on some level. Together, all reality makes a single, unified whole. The definition of holiness is actually whole-ness. Completeness. Togetherness turns out to be the single defining characteristic and intent of holiness.
While we may struggle with declaring any one person or idea to be “perfect,” we should attempt to make the leap of faith necessary to conclude the whole-ness of existence to be holy, perfect. Complete. Warts and all. Especially perhaps the warts. Each component contributing to that overall perfection in its way. The push and pull of humanity, an engine of forward motion, perfect in its overall design, proving generation by generation that the arc of history does indeed bend toward justice. We might faithfully imagine that the definition of perfection exists deeper than our actions, deeper even than our thoughts. It exists in our participation with the divine intent.
From here we may now conclude any number of things. I personally have one, overarching belief that the center of all things is love. Thus, at the risk of sounding over-poetic, my personal worldview is through love-colored glasses. That’s how I determine my conclusions. I ask, ‘What does love say about this?’
Love says that you are loved exactly as you are. Love says you are forgiven before you even ask. Love says if you don’t think you’re perfect, you don’t know the meaning of perfection. Love says when you look in the mirror, “Objects are holier than they appear.”
Our inherent perfection is in the fact that we as humans, and all living things, are self-correcting. From the cellular level to the emotional, we orient ourselves toward improvement. Satisfaction. Adaptation. Happiness. The pursuit of which we have even written into law.
This is the intelligence in our design. Whatever it’s origin, the biggest hint of the divine in all life is that it seeks to perpetually evolve. To raise itself up. I don’t have to know the origins of divinity to be grateful for the miraculous. Nor must I subscribe to the belief that God considers me insufficient. The very meaning of the word namasté is an acknowledgment of the divine in everyone. Uniformly. Those who say we are made in God’s image while at the same time devaluing Its creation, are doing the description of God a disservice.
Togetherness is what makes it all work. Religious traditions always ask us to gather together in order to experience the holy. Why might that be? Because we only really see it when we are together.
Make no mistake, you are whole. You are holy. You also happen to be perfect. That’s why humans are able—and authorized—to recognize holiness in the first place. It takes one to know one.
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