Holiness and humanity are one and the same in the eyes of God. Our humanness is transcended in a way by our holy nature. Real matter is in and of this world, i.e. our mortal selves. Maybe a movie reference would be more helpful.

Sally Field won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in “Places of the Heart” forty-one years ago. The movie ends in a small Baptist church in rural Texas during the Depression. The congregation sings “Blessed Assurance” during Communion. The elements are passed through the congregation as the camera focuses on each face. We realize that all the characters in the film are there, both good and bad, living and dead, the killer and the victim. All are brought together as one by Jesus. It is an epiphany; Jesus “shows”. The glimpses, the snapshots we get of God’s story are able to garner the sacred from the profane. That could be a reason I love movies so much.

Frederick Buechner wrote a book titled “The Remarkable Ordinary”. It’s another angle to perceive the paradox that we embody, the sinner/saint in us, the struggle within that afflicts all of us and which St. Paul echoes in us. The child who does a terrible thing, yet we still grasp them tightly in our arms as they choke back sobs of remorse. Thankfully the Holy One sees it in us and is still able to love us unconditionally.

Pastor Art