Now is the time to know

That all you do is sacred.

…

Now is the time to understand

That all your ideas of right and wrong

Were just a child’s training wheels

To be laid aside

When you can finally live

With veracity

And love.

Hafiz is a divine envoy

Whom the Beloved

Has written a holy message upon.

…

What is it in that sweet voice inside

That incites you to fear?

Now is the time for the world to know

That every thought and action is sacred.

This is the time

For you to deeply compute the impossibility

That there is anything

But Grace.

Now is the season to know

That everything you do

Is sacred.

– Hafiz

The word sacrifice originally meant to make sacred. It seems fitting that within the often fearful act of letting go resides the sacred act of healing. Thinking about living each moment as if it were sacred is an incredibly foreign idea most of the time and requires some serious rearrangement in our thinking. It is easy to see the birth of a child or a wedding as sacred, but brewing a cup of coffee, or taking out the trash, that feels like a stretch. In fact seeing everyday life as sacred requires continuous internal shifts in the way we understand our life and it’s purpose. Ritual acts as a springboard to get the mind working in new ways and helps us reevaluate what we believe to be the truth. The ritual of lent, this idea of giving up or sacrificing certain luxuries, acts as a means of facilitating that internal shift. It’s not just by depriving ourselves that causes us to alter the way we see things, even more powerful is giving up the things that no longer work for us in our lives. By sacrificing those things that don’t support or heal our lives is to open ourselves to the unexpected ways of becoming more of who we intrinsically are. In order to make room in our lives for something new that heals or enlarges us, means we have to let go of something else. Preferably that something else is what harms or hampers us, those things that keep us feeling small or unworthy. By letting go of those things that no longer serve us, places us more firmly on the path of living life as a sacred act.

What would it feel like to sacrifice, or make sacred, fear? This is obviously a big one. Fear pervades so much of our lives, is such a constant companion, it’s hard to disentangle ourselves from it. In fact, letting go of fear is a work in progress that will take a lot of time, effort and vigilance. But it’s worth it. Fear is a soul sucker. It steals all the pleasure from life. It causes us to worry, or live in a constant state of overwhelm. Fear robs us of precious moments that awaken the soul to what’s really essential, it cheats us from feeling completely alive and engaging in our lives. By sacrificing those things that steal the meaning and joy from our lives, is how we make our life sacred. The act of letting go of what hinders us from living our lives to the fullest, heals us. In the case of fear, it’s something we have to let go of again and again, in a million different circumstances and situations.

I love this poem because it speaks to re-envisioning our lives, realizing that our lives are sacred and are meant to be lived to their fullest unfolding. We are meant to do more than sleep walk through our lives. Realizing that our lives our sacred works of the soul lets in the mystery of being alive. It speaks to the illusive qualities we often overlook in the rush of living. This is what ritual does, no matter what form it takes, it opens us up and lets us live side by side with the mystery for awhile.

Here’s to taking the time to see more deeply into the sacred of everyday life.

kb