Thought for the Week: The hallowed and the holy
G Gordon Steel reflects on some moving words
Recently, a Friend quoted in Meeting words by the Austrian-born Israeli-Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, writing as God: You think I am far away from you; but in your love for your neighbour you will find me; not in his love for you but in yours for him. Everything is waiting to be hallowed by you. The greatest thing any man can do for another is to confirm the deepest thing in him…
What stood out for me was the word ‘hallowed’ – a term not commonly used by Friends. It is an adjective, but used here as a verb, that refers to the idea of ‘the holy’. We are familiar with people speaking of hallowed ground, as in a cemetery, or the hallowed space within a church. ‘Holy Writ’ to many believers is a hallowed document. I can imagine that there is a widespread view among orthodox Christians that this concept of holiness refers to something inherent, in the ground, the space or the book, a quality that is independent of us, the observers. But Buber is saying that everything is waiting to be hallowed by us – that the holiness results from the attitude that we take to it.
Quakers are not in the habit of referring to our Meeting houses as holy places. Indeed, we famously go for simplicity in their construction and openly stress that God can be worshipped anywhere. But Buber’s words seem to me to put a new slant on holiness: it arises from what this place means to us, the regard that we have for it and the associations that it carries. I am sure that Friends sometimes feel this very strongly, in particular when we reflect on the men and women who have worshipped before us in this our Meeting house.
Some of our Meeting houses go back centuries and were visited by Friends who we regard as our founders. Even those buildings that are only a few decades old have been the focus of many lives of dedicated service. We will probably recall profound vocal ministry, Friends who were noted for their wisdom or for generating powerful concerns or for distinguished service to the community and the wider world. And the Friends whose service was in caring and supporting those in need. So, in a very real sense, this becomes a hallowed place.
But it is not just Meeting houses. Buber is saying that everything is waiting to be hallowed by us and the attention of what he wrote is on our neighbours. That is a pretty powerful thought. Olive Schreiner has written:
I see the vision of a poor weak soul striving after good. It was not cut short; and, in the end, it learnt, through tears and much pain, that holiness is an infinite compassion for others; that greatness is to take the common things of life and walk truly among them; that… happiness is a great love and much serving.
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