Reverencing the Something Bigger

I once took a yoga class, and at the end of that class the instructor bowed gently and said, “Namaste.” I didn’t know what that word meant, or why it was said, but everyone in the class followed suit with their own bow and namaste. What they were saying was, “My soul honors your soul.”

Wow. How beautiful. I have been thinking lately about rituals and the things in our life that make us give reverence to the something bigger. As a Catholic, we make the sign of the cross across our chest to also give honor. In fact, there are many things that we do that give this honor. As a Catholic, I am well versed in these simple symbolic things that give reverence to God. But as a human race, are there things that we do, on a daily basis that give that kind of respect to the something bigger? I am now in southern Arizona, and nothing around me but mountains, and I think that if we don’t give reverence, where reverence is do, we miss the point of life.

Driving, I see mountains; I see vastness; I see life...and I honor it. But being from Oklahoma, it can be a chore to even give that kind of respect in our everyday life if we do not seek to find the small and simple things that deserve that respect. I easily give it here because I see things I don’t at home: mountains, cactus, desert, vastness. When we get complacent, in life, it becomes harder to give the honor that is due the things or people around us. That is why the idea of namaste and the sign of the cross are so sacred and beautiful.

I would have to do much research to look into different cultures and religions to find other means of honoring the soul or the something bigger, but for now, I will just speak of what I know: Catholicism.

1. Genuflecting to the altar. I love this...I really do. Each time we enter the pew or walk in front of the tabernacle we genuflect. We drop to our right knee and honor the something bigger: the true presence of Christ present. We pay respect to the One we believe came to show us love unconditionally and without reproach.
2. The sign of the cross. I am not talking about when this is done before and after a prayer or even when we enter the sanctuary. I am speaking more of the times we do this as we pass a Catholic church or when we pass a cemetery. We do this to honor the something bigger that is present in the church and those that went before us.

These are just two of the many ways that Catholics honor or should honor the something bigger. Ender’s Game, a fantastic novel, written by Orson Scott Card tells of a Muslim boy who whispers to the main character, “Shalom.” Peace. Peace for you. Peace for your family. Peace for the something inside of you that resides outside of the understanding of our humanity.

See, that’s just it. Namaste, the sign of the cross, shalom are all ways that humanity uses to reverence the something in a finite being that is infinite. I can’t even begin to try to understand the mystery of this. It is sacred and untouchable, and yet something that comes so naturally. The problem, that we run into, is that we forget what lies beyond these words and rituals. They are not something to take lightly. They are something to be done in reverence and only in that way. If we take something holy and sacred and demean it to fit our understanding we miss the point.

Whatever our path in life, or our belief, we must continue to give grace and honor to those things that bring us mystery. It is the height, breadth, and depth or our entire soul. We exist, not for ourselves, but for the something bigger in each of us. And we must pay respect. We must give reverence. We must.