... and clear

‘... ever since the creation of the world, the invisible existence of God and his everlasting power
have been clearly seen by the mind's understanding of created things.’
(Romans 1:20)
.

People use many well known words or phrases to express such things as anger, surprise, contempt, or disbelief. Many are obscenities, used deliberately by some to cause offence, and by others as part of their habitual and unthinking stream of language; others are variations on the theme of taking the Lord’s name in vain, again used without thought or, less frequently, with deliberate blasphemous intent. But there are other expressions which have either lost their original meaning or relevance completely (e.g. “Gordon Bennett”), or which no longer convey their meaning with the force they once did. Among these is the protestation, “Is nothing sacred?”
In a world where respect for other people as well as for their human and legal rights, traditions, beliefs, and property, and for authority in general, was only part-way through its decline, the accepted ‘untouchable’ nature of respected things was an acknowledgement of their basic correctness and goodness for the individual, for the community, and for a wider social health and stability. Our progress into civilization, and the continuing refinement of our ways of living in this world and with each other, had, at some time in the past, reached a point where we were able to stand back from the balance of respect and freedom we had created: the rules, written and unwritten, by which we aimed to live. We stood back, we looked, and we saw that it was good. It was because it was good that it was regarded as untouchable: unchangeable. Other than through the continued refinement of its goodness, why would anyone ever want to change it? It became sacred to us. As parts of this constructed goodness began to be undermined, the offended parts of society would rapidly have found ways of expressing their concerns, their disappointments and their disgust. “Is nothing sacred?” would have grown out of this atmosphere, and would have had very real meaning.
We would have been conscious of this sacredness in the non-religious sense, but, because it was indeed good, and pointing in the direction God intended for us, it was also sacred in the sense that it was holy. Unawares, we were being directed by it towards holiness.

In the Creation story, in the first chapter of Genesis, we read that God looked at His creative work at each stage, and ‘God saw that it was good.’ We are told this seven times, beginning where ‘God saw that light was good’ (v.4), and ending where, having made man and woman, ‘God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good’ (v.31).
The physical world is sacred. The whole of creation is sacred. Our journey into holiness and a better understanding of our place in this world is part of our slow awakening to our relationship with our Creator and our purpose in His plan, not only for mankind, but for all that He saw, and continues to see, as good.

.
‘... for the whole creation is waiting with eagerness for the children of God to be revealed.
... We are well aware that the whole creation, until this time, has been groaning in labour pains.’
(Romans 8:19, 22)
.

Wisdom 13:1-9 speaks of those ‘who, from good things seen, have not been able to discover Him-who-is, or, by studying the works, have not recognized the Artificer ‘(v.1), and asks, ‘if they are capable of acquiring enough knowledge to be able to investigate the world, how have they been so slow to find its Master?’ (v.9).
Today’s answer to that ages old question is that, in general terms, very little is seen as being sacred any more. We look but we do not see; we listen but we do not hear. We are increasingly conscious of something not being right in our world, but we seem incapable of holding the veil aside: we do not recognize the sacred even when it lies at our feet.

The message is clear enough, but it is not being heard or seen by the majority of mankind, and most of those who do see and hear it fail to recognize it for what it is. Of the few who do know it, most make little or no attempt to acknowledge it; and among those who do, there are few who are prepared to rise, who are called and directed to shout loudly from the mountain tops. These are our prophets, and we have need of them today.
.
We are all being called to hear the psalmist’s words, not as a whimper from the past, but loud and clear in today’s world, as we stand in awe of the creation of which we are all a part, and for which we have been given responsibility as masters. Only when this is achieved can God's prophets fade silently into the valleys once more.

.
‘No utterance at all, no speech,
not a sound to be heard,
but from the entire earth the design stands out,
this message reaches the whole world.’
(Psalm 19:3-4)
.