Stay Separate, Stay Holy

Holy. Argh, the word tends to conjure up images of saints wrapped in white hushing the plebeians below; of objects consecrated on altars forbidden to be touched by the populace, of sages with long beards with noses in the sky standing far away from the people. Holy. We've always associated it with the term holier-than-thou, and it's become a forbidden word in modern society, where we try to be at one with the others around us.

I get it, I really do. Especially since learning as a child that the difference between holiness and Godliness is that everything is Godly, while not everything is holy. All of creating is permeated with Divinity - that's what gives it the capacity to receive life and be sustained in this universe, the same Spirit that gives me life and energy gives life and energy to my computer, my desk and my fingers that type. 

But holiness? Ah, that's an elevation of Divinity into something used for the purpose of elevation. Of taking the Divinity manifest in every living item and object and utilizing it towards a higher purpose. Of using my laptop to work with clients who operate with sustainable practices; rather than to gamble on the stock market and rob old ladies of their savings. Of praying with gratitude that I have the glass of water in my hand, rather than guzzling it down and crushing the plastic bottle it came in to go off and end the life of some poor sea creature. Of taking the food I eat and channelling it's deliciousness to revitalizing me and giving me another productive day rather than the operative part of a frenzied binge of guilt and shame.

So we start to channel all our activities towards holiness, to lasso the Godliness inherent in every object to create something special, something meaningful, something that lasts beyond our short lives on this plane and creates a cosmic effect that increases the light energy of this world to bring beauty into it for generations to come.

Very nice.

But why is it holy, how do we get ourselves to this state of holiness, without fear of being perceived holier-than-thou?

In the Torah of this week, we hear all about being Holy; Holy; Holy. The priests are holy, the sacrifices are holy; and the Rabbis tell us that the idea of Holiness is actually one of separation. Damn, I'm thinking. That separation again, keeping me distant from others not on the same path! Why be holy?

And that's where it's time to redefine separate, to understand the benefits and joys of being separate yet connected; free to move around without attachment yet tapped in to the central purpose of all.

When we separate ourselves towards holiness, it's easy to get sad about our diverging spiritual paths. To feel that our separation is causing a barrier, rather than a connection. But in connecting ourselves with higher Source energy, in pulling in spirit by separating from the mundane elements of life and finding a higher power, we are able to reconnect with the Divinity and Godliness in all, and create one major web of spun-out divine energy.

It's like we're separating from the shells and complexities and crap of our best friends; yet reconnecting with the highest spark of love within each of them, so no matter what happens, no matter how deep the darkness gets, we know we remain connected at a higher, yes, HOLIER level.

And in reaching beyond our separateness to find the Divinity that creates and sustains all, we go from being HOLE-y to being WHOLE. Holy and Divine, separate and connected, free and flowing yet in contact with all beings. For we are all one, with one another and with the source that powers us all.