Being holy has been difficult, maybe because we have made it so. Maybe for too long we have defined it in terms of abnegation and rejection, saying no until only the no remained. It is at best part of an understanding of what holiness might be.
It is essentially a relationship to and a sharing in the holiness that is God's essence. God is holy, and holy we become by our relationship to him. God attempts to communicate himself in word, in action, in Jesus most of all. He is his Spirit, a spirit of holiness and a spirit we share. Our response to God's offer, our reaching to share his holiness, is in hour hope. It is less safe than we may wish, and dedication to an uncertain situation. It is faith.
If we allow the faith to take our flesh, then God can break in and take away some of the fear, replacing it with himself and making uncertainty the basis of our confidence. Maybe he wants us to know it will sometimes be hard, but not all of the time. That it has a meaning even then, and we can find it together. Things need to be what they seem, or what we have made them, because he is with us. His being, and his being with us, make it all worthwhile.
Holiness is then not a denial, a running away. Instead it is a running toward. It becomes affirmation. We move toward God moving toward us, affirming we will sometimes meet and sometimes join because his love is real, more real than the fear and difficulty we used to cling to.
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