In the summer of 2001, I took a small group of students to Greely, Colorado, on a mission trip. We had a good week working with Habitat for Humanity and the county food bank. On the last night of the trip, we found ourselves in the dark sanctuary of the church where we were staying. Eventually, one of the students began playing the piano. As we sat there in the dimly lit pews, she began to play one of our main worship songs – “Take Me In.” As she played, I stood to talk to the rest of the students who were there. 20+ years later, I have no memory of what I said to them, but I remember the experience: it was a holy moment, a moment when God showed up and impacted all of us.
That’s what holy moments are. They are those “little, perfect, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments” that often happen in our everyday lives: Moses and the burning bush, Elijah hearing God’s still, small voice on Mt. Sinai, Isaiah seeing the Lord in the temple, the birth of a child, a wedding day, even sharing the final moments on earth with loved one after a life well lived. Holy moments occur when the Living God meets us where we are, in common places, doing normal things, using ordinary elements.
Holy moments are markers in our spiritual journey, like lights along a path or height marks on a door jamb. They give us strength when we are feeling weak, when our spirit feels dry. They are showers of rain in the desert, springs of water bringing us new life. Holy moments remind us that we are loved, that we are valued by God, and that we are not insignificant to God.
So, my prayer going forward is that we are aware of those holy moments that happen all around us: in stillness and in chaos, on highest mountaintop and in the deepest valleys, in work and in play.
Grace & Peace,
Blake
Image by nonmisvegliate from Pixabay.
