A sense of the sacred
Published: Wed, 04/08/15
I was reading a copy of Saga magazine the other day. I was staying at my mothers and it was her copy I would like to add. Although I guess I am plenty old enough to read Saga if I want to. Anyway, the article which caught my attention was one by Rev Richard Coles who co-hosts the Saturday Live programme on Radio Four. The Rev Coles was talking about the importance of ceremony, and especially its place at Easter time. The Reverend admitted in the article that he particularly liked High Anglican ceremony since he plays something of a starring role in the services he conducts. The article suggested that there is an increasing gulf in our society between those who will or can participate in ceremony and those who will not or cannot. This may well be one of the key reasons for ever increasing secularism.
Leaving aside specific issues of religious belief or lack of it, ceremony does play an essential role in a civilised and harmonious society. Treating an event, a person or a place with respect, consideration and attention creates a very different situation compared with being casual, rude or even disruptive.
We might make a distinction between the ‘sacred’ and the ‘secular’ and claim that only ‘religious’ people would care about the sacred and everyone else can be secular and just care about themselves and their own convenience and ‘self-expression’. This just shows how much more advanced we are now and that we don’t have to bother about all that religious nonsense any more. Right? Not if you want to live in a civilised society. Here are some examples.
One in four newly qualified school teachers drops out in the first year on the job. There area lot of reasons for this but I believe one of the primary ones (and I spent 7 years in state school teaching) is the basic lack of reverence for learning and education amongst too many pupils and their parents. The reasons for this are way beyond this morning’s post and I will write more about learning and teaching another time.
For the past 10 years I have attended and facilitated workshops at the Mercian Gathering, a big pagan event held at the end of the summer near Coventry. It was quite an occasion with about 1000 people attending and very successful on many levels. Last year Anna Franklin, the chief organiser, decided to skip the event this year and have a careful think whether or not to resume in 2016. The main reason? Rowdy and irreverent behaviour including drug taking, drunkenness and disrespectful behaviour during rituals.
Crewkerne has a very beautiful and historic parish church. It is very much in the centre of the community and is well used. Last year some of the stained glass windows were shot out with an air rifle costing tens of thousands of pounds to repair.
Some people do know how to behave. The Monday before Easter we had some spectators at the Stav class. There was chatting between them during the active training sessions. But during the stances there was a complete hush as everyone focused on the breath and posture of each stance and the transitions between them, whether they were actually performing the stances or just in the same room and watching.
For an activity to be meaningful there has to be a sense of reverence and attention. When it comes to martial arts then that sense of reverence for the training, for attention to what is learned and respect for the participation of all who take part that is an essential part of the spiritual expression of the art.
Sacredness is not something forced on us by a vengeful god and his minions. Sacredness is something we create in people, places and activities with our attitude and our behaviour. Religion, spiritual exercises, disciplines such as Stav are not sacred in themselves, rather they are ways of learning how to show reverence and create the sacred in all that we do.
When I am teaching Stav I like to keep it fun and certainly not too serious. At the same time I hope that my students go away with a certain genuine reverence for what they have learned and practice accordingly in their own time.
On the second of May there is a full day seminar which will prepare those attending to practice the stances in their own time as well as introducing other ways of training. Only six places and you will discover how Stav practice can change your life. All you have to do is come and learn. http://www.somersetstav.co.uk/daycourses.html
regards
Graham
PS full list of training opportunities this year at http://www.iceandfire.org/calendar.html