When I sing at a church on Sunday, I am often snapped into attention or gently nudged in the ribs with a gentle inner whisper, "Ahem, pay attention, this applies to you," or "Listen up, this might help you with...". I go to the service thinking that I am going to a gig when, in actuality, I am placed in an environment to be quiet, catch up with myself, and listen. This happened recently when I sang at the Center for Spiritual Living in Seattle (CSL). The guest speaker was Rabbi Olivier of the Bet Alef Temple, who spoke about holiness. The word holiness causes me to tighten up slightly; it feels like an aspiration similar to running up the stairs of the Space Needle. It is a word that excuses treating others like poop and using their backs to climb for a better view. As we look around our neighborhoods and beyond our nation to the world, there are a lot of folks doing things out of a skewed sense of "holiness." So forgive me if I am a little cautious when I hear the word. He based his meditation and talk on his birth Torah potion, which led him to ask, "Where is that Ikea map to build myself into a holy person?" There was laughter. He then mentioned spiritual luminaries like Mother Teresa and Gandhi expressing holiness. But the point from his talk that jumped out at me was that the Western concept of holiness is often associated with perfection. Honestly, I heard a loud crack inside at that statement. Perfection is not holiness. Let that sink in. Now, let's talk about a loaded word: perfection. Striving for perfection, whew, it makes me tired. Once I got a slight expansion about the term holy, I started to think about what holy looks like these days. I often think of the word holy as wholly, describing a state of being whole. And what does that mean? Being wholly means being comfortable in one's skin, speaking and hearing the truth, having a low tolerance to hypocrisy, and having a wholesome sense of radical self and self-acceptance. A sense of purpose and stewardship. In these contentious times, there is a need for wholly-ness.We need wholeness to comfort and stand for and learn to live together. What does wholeness look like for you? You can listen to Rabbi Oliviers talk here (https://www.spiritualliving.
Upcoming Shows in March
This Saturday, I will be sharing the stage with Seattle guitarist Cyd Smith. We will each be performing original music. You can get an acoustic sample at this show if you have not yet picked up Brown Girl's Dream. We'll be at C & P Coffee, an intimate setting for music; I hope to see you there Saturday from 7-9pm.
Please check out my calendar for more dates.
Upcoming Workshop (click image for details)
|