APAD day 10: holy

Advent is a hectic season for me, as it is for many.  I find myself by the end of the day wondering what to take a picture of, staring around my messy apartment for some inspiration.  I've challenged myself to take a picture each day rather than using a picture from the past or other sources, and it's definitely a challenge.

Holy.

When I think of the word "holy," I think of songs.  The word's meaning is confusing and abstract, but songs seem to provide the best context for me.

My poinsettia is a holy miracle -- from dirt and seeds, it grows.  I didn't see its beginnings, but I know it came a long way to be how it is now.  The simple fact that plants grow is beautiful and mysterious to me.  I am in awe by little green shoots coming up from rich, brown soil.  It does not work or labor, but God takes care of it.  God entrusts me to water it, and the plant takes care of the rest.
It's really incredible, if you stop to think about it.

Peter Mayer's song "Holy Now" is a great reminder of how everything can be (and is) holy.
Holiness is all around us.
We just need to look through God's eyes.

Holy Now

by Peter Mayer

When I was a boy, each week
On Sunday, we would go to church
And pay attention to the priest
He would read the holy word
And consecrate the holy bread
And everyone would kneel and bow
Today the only difference is
Everything is holy now
Everything, everything
Everything is holy now

When I was in Sunday school
We would learn about the time
Moses split the sea in two
Jesus made the water wine
And I remember feeling sad
That miracles don’t happen still
But now I can’t keep track
‘Cause everything’s a miracle
Everything, Everything
Everything’s a miracle

Wine from water is not so small
But an even better magic trick
Is that anything is here at all
So the challenging thing becomes
Not to look for miracles
But finding where there isn’t one

When holy water was rare at best
It barely wet my fingertips
But now I have to hold my breath
Like I’m swimming in a sea of it
It used to be a world half there
Heaven’s second rate hand-me-down
But I walk it with a reverent air
‘Cause everything is holy now
Everything, everything
Everything is holy now

Read a questioning child’s face
And say it’s not a testament
That’d be very hard to say
See another new morning come
And say it’s not a sacrament
I tell you that it can’t be done

This morning, outside I stood
And saw a little red-winged bird
Shining like a burning bush
Singing like a scripture verse
It made me want to bow my head
I remember when church let out
How things have changed since then
Everything is holy now
It used to be a world half-there
Heaven’s second rate hand-me-down
But I walk it with a reverent air
‘Cause everything is holy now