The Holy Now
There were no formerly heroic times, and there was no formerly pure
generation. There is no one here but us chickens, and so it has always
been: a people busy and powerful, knowledgeable, ambivalent, important,
fearful and self-aware; a people who scheme, promote, deceive and
conquer; who pray for their loved ones, and long to flee misery and
skip death. It is a weakening and discoloring idea that rustic people
knew God personally once upon a time -- or even knew selflessness or
courage or literature -- but that it is too late for us. In fact, the
absolute is available to everyone in every age. There never was a more
holy age than ours, and never a less.[emph. added - MC]
There is no less holiness at this time -- as you are reading this -- than there was the day the Red Sea parted, or that day in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as Ezekiel was a captive by the river Chebar, when the heavens opened and he saw visions of God. There is no whit less enlightenment under the tree by your street than there was under the Buddha's bo tree. There is no whit less might in heaven or on earth than there was the day Jesus said "Maid, arise" to the centurion's daughter, or the day Peter walked on water, or the night Mohammed flew to heaven on a horse. In any instant the sacred may wipe you with its finger. In any instant the bush may flare, your feet may rise, or you may see a bunch of souls in a tree. In any instant you may avail yourself of the power to love your enemies; to accept failure, slander, or the grief of loss; or to endure torture.
Purity's time is always now. Purity is no social phenomenon, a cultural thing whose time we have missed, whose generations are dead, so we can only buy Shaker furniture. "Each and every day the Divine Voice issues from Sinai," says the Talmud. Of eternal fulfillment, Tillich said, "If it is not seen in the present, it cannot be seen at all."
--Annie Dillard, For the Time Being
