Something opens our wings./Something makes boredom and hurt disappear./Someone fills the cup in
front of us./We taste only sacredness. – Rumi
What a sweet opportunity each of us has to offer sacredness to those nearby and far away. Because of the weight of our egos, it takes a conscious effort to find what would fill the cup of in front of another.
I know what feels like a sacred gift for me, though I’m not always sure what it is for others. Recently, I received a note from a kind-hearted leader at a Midwestern hospital who took the trouble to write me to say how vividly he recalled a speech I gave four years ago and how he continues to practice some of the things he learned in that hour and a half.
Of course, my ego was pleased. Beyond that, this man offered testimony to the way we may awaken sacredness for another without our knowing…
As a child, I wondered how people could ever be bored. The world seemed endlessly exciting to my young heart. As with all children, I was soon cast into controlled settings like church, school and restaurants, where sudden explosions of enthusiasm were rapidly punished.
Loss of enthusiasm about the world is a heart-scarring experience. Sometimes, though, in the middle of monotony and hurt, a sacred moment appears to us. Someone offers us a kindness that reminds us of our own humanity. We brush the hem of Love. Hope returns. 
As each of us knows, our hope can be fragile. Psychology professor Martin Seligman (left) developed the concept of Learned Helplessness. According to this notion, animals can be programmed to withdraw into states of inactivity to such an extent that they lose the capacity to escape or to protect themselves. They become as helpless as any human who has surrendered to despair and routine. [Note: Seligman also developed the concept of Learned Optimism, a phrase which may explain itself.]
As we offer our gifts of caregiving, we can reawaken hope in another, sometimes with the smallest gestures, sometimes with efforts that are harder and more sustained.
How do you offer sacredness to others in ways you know are meaningful? Do we even need to know the impact of our kindness? Some believe kind acts are sufficient by themselves for Love to find its way in this world.
-Erie Chapman
Journal of Sacred Work 
Leave a comment