The sacred question: winning text in Ektebli2

   Sacred. What is sacred? According to the Oxford Dictionary, sacred is something that is “Connected with God or a god or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration.” Now that makes sense. It is something even I know. Religion, sacredness and holiness, they all hold the same meaning in a way. Related to one source; God. Believer or not, we all need a god figure in our lives. A higher power that created us, protects us, makes sure that everything stays in order. Something giving us the hope that our lives are not wasted, that we do not live, die and go forgotten, like the speck of dust within the air, unnoticed. Something we turn to when the lights go out, to pray for a better tomorrow, to pray for the sun to shine once more. That higher power working in a mysterious way, it gives us a sense of relief knowing that no good deed goes unrewarded , and no bad deed goes unpunished. That higher power giving us, all the control freaks out there, myself included, a great sense of comfort; the ability to take a step back, breathe and just let it all go, knowing that everything would be handled and it would work out eventually. I guess most of us agree on this point; our ancestors did a good job associating sacredness with God and religion.

   But then I stumbled upon another definition of the word Sacred; “Regarded as too valuable to be interfered with; sacrosanct” Now that was interesting. It actually made me wonder again. I thought I knew what sacred was. But now, what is sacred?

   Life? It sounds legitimate to say that Life is a sacred thing, right? But then again, what on earth do I know about Life to say it is so valuable? I am only twenty-something. I sleep every night expecting to wake up the next morning, safe and sound. Just like any person my age, death is not an idea that we think about often. We just think we are too young, too invincible to care. Life, we take it as a given. We live every day not caring or thinking about the next, almost as if we are meant to live forever, almost as if we would live to witness the end of times. So now tell me, if we do not think of death, if we do not think of the possibility that our lives could be taken from us any minute, how could we know the value of it? How could we call it “sacred”?

   Time? That was another notion that had crossed my mind. Now Time was a tricky one. At first, thinking about it, it did seem like something valuable for me. Very valuable. It always seemed like I was in a race against it, like most of us humans. And that thrill, that rush of blood you feel in your veins knowing that you might lose the race at any moment, waking every instinct of survival in you, creating new paths that would help you get what you want before you run out of Time, is priceless. Something similar to what I am experiencing at this very moment, trying to finish my article before the deadline. The rush of Adrenaline that is going through all of my body, pushing every organ in my system to work harder and faster, giving it the right amount of boost to get the work done. Moments like these, they make Time such a valuable asset in our lives. But is it really sacred? I mean, let’s think about it for a moment. Ask yourself this question. What if we weren’t in this race? What if we chose not to be in this race? What if we didn’t obsess about how little Time we had left with our loved ones, or before we had to take our finals? All of that anxiety would soon disappear and Time would be forgotten. Now that doesn’t seem to me like something sacred, does it? Or at least, I do not want to think of it as sacred. It is much easier for me to live my life that way. I chose not to get in the race against Time, for I know the odds are not in my favor.

   Numerous other notions have haunted my crammed mind these past days, trying to figure out what could be sacred. Notions such as freedom, family, sanity maybe … and the list goes on. But I couldn’t do it. I guess, in the end, there is not just one universal thing that we could call sacred, that would satisfy all of us. I guess the sacred changes from one person to another depending on what they do not have and what their heart longs to have, depending on one’s own definition of the word “sacred”.

    For me it is Love. It has always been Love. And I am confident that it will stay that way for as long as this heart of mine keeps beating. But it is not because I do not have Love in my life that I think it is “the Sacred”. I do have it. All kinds of Love for that matter. I am loved and I learnt how to love people. And that is a blessing. That is valuable. Priceless. Love is the only emotion, the only thing that I am willing to fight for. I know how cliché it sounds. But it is true. Taking a trip down memory lane, I have realized that when it comes to Love nothing has been able to stop me from getting what I wanted. Not even my incredibly shy and awkward personality. Only then I came to realize how much it means to me. It’s like a seed; I plant it, nourish it, take care of it, watch it as it grows into a big healthy tree, enjoy its fruits, and whatever it happens, never let it vanish and fade away. Now, why would I go through such trouble? Because, effortless as it seems, Love needs some hard work, persistence, determination, patience, and a lot of faith. Why would I go to such lengths? Well, the answer is simply this: because not very deep down, I know that Love is “the Sacred”. My Sacred.

Written by Jihène Ben Katib