Sacredness is a quality Unitarian Universalists attribute to what is worthy of the highest respect and reverence. It’s not rare. The sacred is present and available to us wherever we look or are willing to find it.

UU Ralph Waldo Emerson recommended, in his essay “Self-Reliance,” that all individuals should seek and honor what is sacred to them.

At the same time, they should remember that attitudes about the sacred are not entirely private. It is not enough for me to care only about what’s sacred to me.

Humankind has defined and cultivated a sacred realm for thousands of years. We all possess the instinct to regard some things as sacred, and to cherish and protect them. The sacred is a quality quite varied in its expression, but fundamental to everyone’s humanity.

We all hold within us the potential for an attitude of reverence, awe, ultimate respect, and transcendence. UUs certainly do, and they make room for others to do the same, even with beliefs they disagree with.

For most UUs, sacredness involves recognition of the relatedness of all life and our place within the web of existence. This view of the sacred binds us to all other living things and to the Earth which is our home.

To UUs, attitudes or actions that violate that bond diminish the sacred. Whatever nourishes that connection increases it. Whatever calls us to appreciate that relationship, calls us to holiness, invites us to dwell in the sacred.

We are co-creators and preservers of the sacred–in our art, in our science, in our service to high ideals, and not least in our devotion to the good and the just. Sacredness is the larger love which transcends our self-centered perspectives and our tribal loyalties.

February 23, 2024