“S” as in Sanctity.

sanc•ti•ty/ˈsaNG(k)titē/ Noun: The state or quality of being holy, sacred, or saintly. Ultimate importance and inviolability. Synonyms: holiness; saintliness; sainthood; sacredness.

Did you notice the word, inviolability? That means being secured from violence or desecration. We were created to be holy. Our lives are sacred. They were meant to be protected; to be cherished and honored. Unfortunately not everyone values life.

I am really struggling with this blog post. I know what it means to be violated – I know the pain and shame that comes with it. At the same time, sharing this in a public forum such as a blog opens up my story for others to treat it as they may. Translation: I run the risk of further violation by my experience being misunderstood or invalidated.

What I do know is that being violated left me feeling powerless, hopeless, and without worth. I came to this conclusion because when I looked in the mirror, I only saw my wounds. I lost sight of the truth of my existence – that I was important; my essence was sacred.

Sanctity for life recognizes that life is sacred simply because it is. We as a society struggle with this attitude. We attribute value based upon utilitarian principles – what someone does determines their worth. We value beautiful, happy people. For those of us who have been violated, we see ourselves as bad and our physical being as ugly. We become stuck in a vicious cycle of internal shame messages that is further reinforced by the utilitarian beliefs of our society. We buy the lies. We stop believing in the sanctity of life.

Being violated is like having someone graffiti a monument. It is tainted and defamed. In attempts to cover up the graffiti, we may violate ourselves by adding our own layers paint. Eventually we forget what the monument was supposed to look like – we forget what it was originally created to represent. Rather than cover up the defamation, we need to clean it off. We need to roll up our sleeves and really look at the violation. Someone did an awful thing, but with time and cleansing its impact does begin to fade away.

Sanctity says who we are in the core of our being determines our worth. It is about our essence. We did not create our essence. We cannot alter our essence. Our essence, the core of who we are, was created in the image of God. This image is holy. It is sacred. It is inviolable. Nothing can change that. To say that we are worthless, that we have no value is to say God is worthless. For if we truly are created in the image of God, how we view our own lives is a reflection of how we view God. This should also go the other way – how we view God should impact how we see ourselves.

In the havoc that follows a violation, may we not lose sight of our essence. May we not lose sight of the God who created us. We are sacred because we are created in the image of a Sacred God.

Next . . . “T” as in Trust.