What “Sacred” Means to Me

I have a magnet (pictured below) on my refrigerator that reads: Everyone, everywhere, every day is sacred.  I believe this with all of my heart.  And, I wonder about this word, this string of letters that elicits expectation, exultation and grace; this word that intimates that whatever, or whomever, it is attached to or associated with is something or someone special; this word set apart from other words used to describe the extraordinary.  Sacred is not a word to be bandied about with abandon; it’s not a word to be expressed imprecisely, or inadvertently.  It holds and heralds a certain power to proclaim something, someone, some place as holy, spirit-filled, and divine.  And yet, not all places, people and things are considered sacred by everyone, equally and unequivocally.  

Recently, I was asked, “How can you refer to bicycling as sacred?”  This person went on to say, “The bicycle is a toy, or something people use to get exercise.  It has no religious significance.”  Finally, “Aren’t you being sacrilegious telling people that something so simple and trivial is sacred?”  The gift of these questions right before beginning my first sacred century (which I will be posting about later this week) is that (1) they moved me to be more attentive and curious about my association with this word.  And, (2) they motivated me to be more present to how other people are responding to or associating with it.  

Sacred Cycling came to me after watching a documentary about the Pulitzer-Prize winning Kiowa writer and poet, N. Scott Momaday.  In an address to the UN, Momaday declared, “To encounter the sacred is to be alive at the deepest center of human existence. Sacred places are the truest definitions of the earth; they stand for the earth immediately and forever; they are its flags and shields.”  I grew up with Pin Oak Tree.  One of the most magnificent standing people I would ever encounter, this tree watched over, counseled, and grew with me.  Rooted outside of my bedroom window I began and ended every single day in my childhood home heralding my magnificent friend.  He was sacred to me; standing for the earth, standing with me.  He was present in my every day, an integral part of who I was becoming, and how I was seeing and engaging the world around me.

Listening to and learning about Momaday, and reminded of Grandfather Pin Oak, I was compelled to wonder about the sacred beings, sacred places and sacred things that were important to people in my everyday life.  After a while, I became curious about sacred beings, places, things and people I didn’t yet know.  I read about how others were conceptualizing their experiences, who and what they deemed sacred.  And, I used every opportunity I could to ask even the person standing in front of me at the grocery store, “What or who is sacred in your life?”  

Ultimately, after speaking with, reading and reflecting on various perspectives regarding what and who is deemed sacred, I found that most people expressed an openness and flexibility about what and who they imagined or believed to be sacred.  There were those who expressed a deep faith in the authorities in their spiritual traditions, and devotedly reiterated how those leaders characterized something or someone as sacred.  Most people, however, identified places, for example, that were personally special, where they felt personally connected to something bigger than themselves.  They also seemed to use the word to celebrate certain people whom they believed embodied and radiated extraordinary kindness and deep love in a way that made them seem “out of this world,” or imbued with exceptional grace.  

The things that people generally described as sacred were things that they had acquired from a loved one, or someone they revered; things they picked up or were gifted while visiting a meaning-filled place; or, things that either had been blessed by a spiritual elder, or other religious leader, or that they themselves suffused with spiritual significance because that thing helped them to feel enlivened, enriched, and directly connected to a particular essence outside of and within themselves. 

As you’ve already gathered, cycling has been a way for me to reverently ramble through my world, engaging with the land, people, places and possibilities that present me with insights and questions, opportunities for growth, and glimpses into what is remarkably ordinary, or perhaps, sacred.  I feel connected to the Cosmos, linked to deep love when I am pedaling my metal mare.  Sometimes I feel more open-hearted, centered and compassionate on my bike, witnessing the world around me with curiosity and calm.  And sometimes, when I have been cut off, flipped the bird, or yelled at for taking the lane, it is my wheel that reminds me in the midst of fuming and feeling scared, that I am pedaling, I am in my world in process, living within a complicated, sometimes confounding, generally conscientious, and always sacred community.

I rather like how John Phillip Newell talks about the word sacred.  In his most recent book, Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul, he writes: “The word points with reverence to the divine essence of life and the true nature of relationship.  When we speak of something as sacred, we are offering it ultimate respect.  We are honoring it.”  

I wonder, then, what does sacred mean to you?  From where or whom does your understanding of the word, or concept, originate?  And, what’s the gift for you in considering what sacred means to you?

Everyone, everywhere, every day is sacred.  This journey on which I’ve embarked is a sacred journey on my sacred cycle, and what that means to me will surely expand and evolve as I witness the people, places and things that are sacred to you.  We may not all agree on our definitions and understandings of the word, sacred, or apply that word to the same people, places, and things.  For me, part of my project is about opening to what I don’t know, what I don’t understand or see, and, honor that those people, places and things are sacred to someone.  And, that someone, is sacred to me.

Pedal on!