For I am the LORD your God; sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.
This morning, I continue the walk through Leviticus. Today, we hear about birth, and how long a woman must remain ritually unclean after birth – which of course, depends on whether it’s a boy child or girl. Then it goes on to talk a lot about leprosy. With the distance of thousands of years, I don’t have a lot of need to learn about various types of leprosy, baldness, hairs, and clothing. Some of the writing, I suspect was about what was important at the time, important to keep people healthy – their version of COVID protocols.
But using the leprosy of the time as an opportunity to remember how important sanctification and making oneself holy, that makes sense. Sanctify yourself, because you are holy, and God is holy.
Carrying that forward to today, we could be using COVID as an opportunity to double down on being holy. On sanctifying ourselves and our spaces and our lives.
It’s interesting how much time we spent as the church trying to logistically figure out how to handle what we knew as church before. How can we gather? How can we celebrate Eucharist? What about ordinations, baptisms and funerals? Now that the initial rush is over, perhaps we can settle in to what the people thousands of years ago did in the face of leprosy. What can we do, what should we do to sanctify ourselves, to reflect God’s holiness? It won’t look like what they did in the face of leprosy, nor should it.
Personally, I have spent much more time in my home. I’ve had the opportunity to adjust work hours so I worked when I needed to, and rested when I needed to. To be clear, it was no less work, just organized a little differently. And now that I’m back in the office more regularly, I have a new-found appreciation for weekends. Before, time just rolled together. Work from home Monday-Friday, and then Saturday – stay home! Ugh. Now weekends are more protected, more enjoyed, and hopefully more intentional. I love time to enjoy outside, and I enjoy getting my house in order for the next week, a more leisurely pace, time to worship and prepare a great meal or two. How can I use that pattern of living – either the memory of COVID times or whatever the next year is going to bring – how can I sanctify myself, my time my space?
I am a fan of space-based cues, or visual cues. Going to church is a different experience than worshipping online. Cathedrals make my soul soar. In my home space, I have done some things that help sanctify my space. I rearranged a book shelf and made a little altar, or at least organized some meaningful things with more intention and space. I have a lovely ceramic bust of Mary, albeit the fair skinned blue eyed Mary. When I was growing up, she was hauled out every Christmas and adorned with evergreen boughs. She’s on my altar. I have a tiny icon of St. Dymphna. She was killed by her mentally ill father, and is considered the patron saint of mental illness. No, I don’t pray to St. Dymphna, and I don’t think she is God, or can intervene on my behalf. But I do like to know that in the history of the church, there have been other stories of mental illness and faith. I also have a special votive candle that I occasionally light.
While I have the space, I must admit that I don’t sit and reflect there as much as I’d like to think I do. I do have to pass it frequently, so I’m reminded.
This morning, I’m thinking about how to use COVD-tide as cue or excuse to sanctify myself because God is holy. Today, I want to spend some time walking and thinking about just that.
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