Holiness, Alacrity and Silence

If you’re already confused, bear with me, please.

This whole message is about how to bring more aliveness into our daily lives. It’s one thing to just show up and do what we’re supposed to do, day-after-day, week-after-week, year-after-year…until it’s over. It’s a whole ‘nother thing for us to bring our spirit, essence, enthusiasm, delight, our whatever you want to call it, with our steadiness, day-after-day. The part that shines, penetrates and connects us. Not only eye-to-eye, ear-to-ear, skin-to-skin, but heart-to-heart and soul-to-soul. True connections that shift reality in the moment and . . . for who knows how much longer. These moments add up, forever, and create the energy force that keeps us truly going and flowing. Wonderfully, we need refills throughout the day, and we need to be one of the Re-fillers, too.

Every one of us.

That is our job for today, tomorrow, always.

Why do we have to do this and how do we do it?

These are the key questions.

The first one is easy.

Why do we need this special energy? To just be alive, all we need are the basics: food, water, oxygen and shelter. To be truly alive and bring our unique spirit into the world, we need our light-generating, high-octane energy, whose primary ingredients are love, inspiration, purpose and trust. We then get to create, comfort others, continually elevate ourselves, have deep gratitude. And very importantly, to resist the ever-available detrimental, addictive lifestyle patterns and seductive substances.

Most of us need to be vigilantly conscious in order to elevate our spirits. This comes more easily to some than others. No matter how high or how low we function in the moment, our dedicated efforts to move upward is what makes our world a better place. These add up and ultimately make the world brighter…one shiny brick at a time.

Now, how do we do this?? First, I want to address holiness. Most of us don’t use this word in relationship to ourselves—let’s change that. Holy, as we’re talking about it today, means serving the highest part of us. The part that is kind, curious, generous, way more positive than negative, deeply grateful, and willing to admit our errors and do our best to not repeat them. Holy is separate from the mundane, the opposite of selfish, judgmental, egotistical, arrogant…you get the idea.

We’re heading in a holier direction.

Now, alacrity. I didn’t know what it meant a month ago. It means to be cheerful, willing, enthusiastic, full of life. I love it. It’s my new favorite word. The opposite, of course, is apathy which is a lack of interest, passive and indifferent. Some have this holy quality of alacrity from the day they’re born, others don’t. Many of us have been traumatized along the way, and our enthusiasm has been damaged and muffled. Thus, it requires even more conscious, dedicated effort to be positive, to judge ourselves and others less, see beauty in everyone and share your sweet smile. The world needs our smiles.

Enthusiasm is contagious. My most enthusiastic teacher of all time was Stan Ashe. He made diagramming sentences exciting for seventh graders! He would take me into the gym and teach me basketball moves that I used throughout my many years of hooping. Then, he became one of my dearest friends. We met up on Zoom until his 91^st year with his son and a few other students. His enthusiasm and love touched everyone. Stan departed just a year ago, almost to the day. He decided, in his rich lifetime, to never grow old.

Lastly, silence. Most of us need more of it. It can be a peaceful time of self-reflection and deepening our often-understated gratitude. Silence is healing and way too rare in today’s world. Every time I leave my phone inside, sit on the back porch, watch and listen to the birds, enjoy the fluttering aspen leaves, and appreciate the simple wonders…peacefulness grows inside of me. We all need more silence. Please, make it part of your day.

Peacefulness, holiness, alacrity and silence are inseparable. Let’s all head upward on our journeys home.

Thanks for reading!

Burt Gershater is a local counselor, leadership trainer, speaker and writer. He can be reached at info@burtgershater.com

This article appears in the Source September 4, 2025.