Holy Moments

Holiness
At the end of each day, I try to recognize and name something holy (experience, person, etc..) that I experienced that day. I find that this exercise helps me to be present in day to day life, and seek out the beauty in a world where goodness sometimes feels scarse. As some of you already know, I am very open about ideas on religion, and I use the word holiness in the sense of recognizing something sacred, recognizing something that touches the soul, a moment where time seems to stop just so we don’t miss it. I believe that God, or some larger force is present in these moments of holiness, but depending on religious background/beliefs, others may define this word/experience differently.

I had a holy moment last Saturday and have found myself wanting to find time to share it with you. I spent all day at Providencia last Saturday. I arrived around 9am, tired and really wanting to hop back into bed, and left around 8pm, renewed and at peace. Throughout the day kids came and went while the adults spent their time working on various projects. The day was filled with work and with play. At one point, I found myself playing with a balloon with some of the younger kids…I forgot how something so simple could be so much fun. The atmosphere was peaceful despite the noise and movement. There were no fights and the mood was light hearted. Towards the end of the day I was helping make tortas fritas (fried dough) when Maria came to me crying. Maria is a 5 year old who lives with her 9 brothers and sisters in front of the community center. It may not seem so rare that after a long day of play a five year old came up to me crying after bumping her head; but Maria is rare in that I have never met such a tough five year old. Maria plays tough, fights tough, and doesn’t let her guard down. She likes her hugs and kisses like the rest of the kids, but she also is unlike any five year old I know. Anyways, back to the story…I knelt down to see what had happened and due to my poor Spanish skills, decided that it might just be better to pick her up. I picked up her little body and she wrapped her arms around my neck and laid her head on my shoulder. The music was still blaring and as I stood their rocking her to the beat, her body became dead weight in my arms. We stayed like that for fifteen minutes. As I rocked her I watched two other girls go running and sliding across the floor…each time they would end up in hysterics , rolling around on the floor laughing. In these fifteen minutes life seemed to stop. Maria let go of her “tough act’ and for a few moments, was what I think of as a “typical” 5 year old, someone who seeks love, comfort, trust, and touch. Karin and Mylen (the girls sliding on the floor) were liberated for a moment from their daily reality of violence, hunger, and responsibility and spent time giggling on the floor.
Its moments like these that keep us going; that recharge us to face our realities when the moment comes to an end. I will continue to look for holy moments throughout the year to store in my mind and will draw on them in times of frustration, sadness, anger, injustice, and exasperation.

Holiness is what I long for, holiness is what I need, holiness is what you want from me.