A Reflection by The Rev. David Hoster
Those of us isolated at home need to remember how fortunate we are to have spent years imprinting on our sacramental tradition. Sacraments connect us with that vast dimension of holiness so near at hand for those with eyes to see. What better resource could we have for dealing with chronic physical isolation than connecting with the Kingdom of God?
Sacramental objects turn ordinary reality into a door open to infinity. The bread and wine of Eucharist use our most basic human activity—consuming food and drink in order to sustain our lives—to throw open a door allowing God’s sacrificial love to become our nourishment. The water of Baptism—the most pervasive, life-giving element on earth—fills us with a Spirit so Holy that we can breathe God’s air even underwater where the depths of our souls are connected to the farthest reaches of Heaven’s ocean. The oil of healing, the rings of matrimony, the ashes of penitence…I could go on and on.
Sacramental objects such as these are not confined to our church building. They are everywhere, especially in our homes. If we look at our own households with sacramental eyes, the most ordinary objects are no longer opaque things-in-themselves, but doors opening wide to a much larger life than Covid-19 lets us see.
The squirrel on my back fence is not just an amusingly cute critter, but a vision of God’s design—a mystically perfect, resourceful, energetic being who will go on burying nuts and prospering and balancing impossibly with his tail because God thought him up and gave him perfect form tailored to the life he lives. The photos of my children and grandchildren, my parents and grandparents (and greats and great-greats), my wife and even myself that all hang on our walls are not mere faces but open doors onto grand vistas of the life, vitality, beauty, mystery and persistence of souls reaching far beyond the dreary daily transactions of human life. Terrie and I have a chair full of stuffed animals left over from our child-raising days, art and icons on our walls, books everywhere, computer screens that unite us with other souls.
When Covid isolation goes on day after wearying day and we feel the walls closing in, we need to remind ourselves that it is time to see the household around us with sacramental eyes. Boredom, anxiety, frustration, even bitterness make our surroundings opaque, but sacraments dissolve barriers around our souls into transparency. We can live in as small or as large a space as we choose.
So, in this trying environment, it’s time to go to church on our own stuff. It doesn’t happen without spiritual intention. We need to intend something other than frustration, boredom and negativity. What is your mentality when you go to church at St. James’? What do you go there to find? What state of heart and mind do you take through the front door and see the sacramental objects all around you?
Now, get in mind of holiness the way you would going into church but do it at home, where God surrounds you no less than in church. There are no fewer sacramental objects at home than there are in church—maybe even more. As you look around your room, what is holy to you? Where does that holiness take you?
Go there. Don’t sit in a stuck place. Get into motion without lifting a finger or taking a single step. God is that near to you.
The Rev. David Hoster
