I often get impatient with how we use the same old words in the same old way. Then I wonder if those words might have other meanings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I put \u201choly\u201d and \u201cconversation\u201d in that category. Normally, they wouldn\u2019t go together, as in \u201cHoly Conversation\u201d. But today they do. And here is why:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHoly\u201d suggests something sacred. But years ago, I discovered that it also means \u201cdifferent\u201d. Try that word-substitution in a favorite hymn, and you might see \u201choly\u201d, well, differently.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In recent years, I also discovered that \u201cConversation\u201d is more than a verbal dialogue. From the mid-14th<\/sup> century, it has also meant \u201cto live with, keep company with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, conversation is more than talking. It has to do with how we live with one another, relate to one another. Therefore, a Holy Conversation requires a different level of personal and social awareness, of attention, and of humility.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dialogue, yes. Relationships, yes. So, let\u2019s reflect on Holy Conversation<\/strong> as a different, sacred way of living together<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The implications seem endless. What would a Holy Conversation within your family look like? How would you live with each other in ways that are \u201cdifferent\u201d than how you live together now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you were invited to a Holy Conversation with folks in your faith community, how would your discussion be \u201cdifferent\u201d? Might it include how you all might live together as a congregation? How might you serve people in your community?<\/p>\n\n\n\n My hunch is that you\u2019ve likely already had Holy Conversations with your spouse, or children, or best friend, or even a stranger. But maybe you never thought of those conversations as being different, even sacred, ways of living together. Ordinary connections can often become very Holy Conversations<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every day, we walk on different holy ground and take it for granted. That walk may be a stop at a dining table to say hello to a neighbor. It becomes a holy moment for you both because you share a different perspective on what living together as neighbors means in that moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A resident of our retirement community recently mentioned that he was on the campus of Kent State on May 4, 1970, during the killings of 4 students by Ohio National Guard members. He showed us a book with his photo standing a short way from one of the wounded students. As I read his book, my own news-based memories of that horrible event came alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suddenly, our fairly casual dining lunch visit took a different (and sacred) turn \u2013 at least for me. After 56 years, he\u2019s still impacted by that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And now we live together in the same building and see each other nearly every day. His experience has become embedded in our relationship. We don\u2019t need to talk about May 4 to know it\u2019s there. I value that Holy Conversation we now share!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I Peter 1: 13-16 is a section where the writer calls his readers to \u201choly living.\u201d His assumption of what is holy may well be different (yes!) than mine. But I wonder how you might invite vs.16 into your own reflection space by using \u201cdifferent\u201d in this version offered in The Message<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God\u2019s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, \u2018I am holy; you be holy.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For you, what would your life \u201cblazing with holiness-difference\u201d look like? Feel like? How holy-different is your understanding of God from other gods you might be prone to follow? How does your different-holy God lead you into a Holy Conversation, a living differently \u2013 together with others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Rev. Paul Graves<\/strong> is a retired elder member of the Pacific Northwest Conference of The United Methodist Church.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a reflective column, Rev. Paul Graves reexamines “holy” and “conversation,” noting both words carry root meanings of “different” and “to live with.” He argues a “Holy Conversation” isn’t just dialogue but a sacred, humble way of living alongside others\u2014family, neighbors, congregation members. Drawing on 1 Peter 1:13-16, Graves invites readers to consider how holiness might reshape everyday relationships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":24904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[74,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-opinioneditorial","category-pacific-northwest-conference"],"yoast_head":"\n
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