RITE AND REASON:What is holy opens up novel avenues of thinking and guides the mind to see things in a new light, writes IAN ELLIS
ONE OF the chief interests of tourists, either in Ireland or elsewhere, is to visit religious buildings, whether it be the great cathedrals, simple country churches or the striking buildings of other faith traditions.
Many of those who visit religious places of worship have little commitment, if any, to a particular religion. People may be spiritually aware but also religiously disinterested.
In a recent lecture, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams maintains that society still needs traditional religion, not least because acknowledging spirituality alone, without it being given religious form, is not sufficient to challenge society.
For that reason, he says, religion is ". . . one of the most potent allies possible for genuine pluralism - that is, for a social and political culture that is consistently against coercion and institutionalised inequality and is committed to serious public debate about common good".
Organised religion is often caricatured as oppressive, intolerant and prejudiced. No doubt there is a lot of truth in many such criticisms, but religion also provides an impetus for tolerance, kindness and justice.
Indeed, if religion was not ultimately for the good of society, religious institutions could no longer enjoy their charitable status in law.
What is it that attracts people to holy places, even though they may not be particularly committed to any religion?
Religious buildings are holy places set aside for prayer and worship, places of peace and calm that make us stop and ponder the deepest things in our lives. By their very architecture and construction, they speak of the majesty of God and quicken our deep-seated, but often self-denied, love of the holy.
Enda McDonagh recently wrote: "A transcendent God allows only for sacramental or symbolic communication." It is a simple but very profound observation. The reason why both worship and religious buildings have their own beauty is that through these, the transcendent God is communicating with us.
So it is that holy places, holy actions, holy writing and, indeed, holy people are beautiful, even if sometimes we have to look or listen more carefully.
What energises people in "the holy" is the way the experience of holiness, be it in worship, place or person, engages us spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically. The most difficult of these to define is the spiritual.
Perhaps it might be described as the totality of the various dimensions of our human experience, ourselves in our wholeness of mind, emotion and body. The sense of the holy touches us mentally and opens up novel avenues of thinking, guiding the mind to see and understand things in a new light. This refreshing of our thought has its own beauty.
The sense of the holy touches us emotionally because it stirs a longing to be at one with ourselves, with one another and with God. In the heart, it evokes sorrow for sin and the desire for righteousness. The holy always welcomes the wrongdoer back, intimating that this is our true destiny, our real and unfailing home. This refreshing of the spirit within us has its own beauty.
The sense of the holy touches us physically because our bodies are fundamental to our identity as persons. For that reason, the doctrine of the resurrection of the body is a crucial Christian teaching.
Despite often negative perspectives of religion towards the physical, the experience of the holy can only lead to a deeper respect for our divinely created bodies. Holiness, as it inspires this affirmation of the dignity of our physical form, has its own beauty.
Holiness is surprisingly affirming, enabling individuals in all their weaknesses and failings to see themselves as truly of infinite worth to the loving, pure and holy God.
The encounter with the holy is, ultimately, an encounter with God, who is the "Holy One". It is therefore always a refreshing and life-changing experience.
• Canon Ian Ellis is rector of Newcastle, Co Down, and editor of the Church of Ireland Gazette.