I missed the first portion but he’s talking about people who exemplify holiness to the Lord in their daily life.
All around us are opportunities to laugh, delight, see with grateful eyes. Ours is a gospel of joy and holiness in everyday life. Holiness sets things apart for sacred purpose. But holiness also invites us to infuse daily living with the sacred—to rejoice in daily bread amidst this world’s thistles and thorns. To walk with the Lord, we must become holy, for He is holy, and to help us become holy, the Lord invites us to walk with Him.
It takes a very humble heart to consistently rejoice in daily bread while constantly experiencing thorns and thistles.
Growing evidence highlights this striking fact: religious believers are on average happier, healthier, and more fulfilled than those without spiritual commitment or connection. Happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, close social relationships, even financial and material stability—on each measure, religious practitioners flourish.
They enjoy better physical and mental health and greater life satisfaction across all ages and demographic groups.
What researchers call “religious structural stability” offers clarity, purpose, and inspiration amidst life’s twists and turns. The household of faith and community of Saints combat isolation and the lonely crowd. Holiness to the Lord says no to the profane, no to snarky cleverness at others’ expense, no to algorithms that monetize anger and polarization. Holiness to the Lord says yes to the sacred and reverent, yes to our becoming our freest, happiest, most authentic, best selves as we follow Him in faith.
I think we underestimate the consequences of isolation and loneliness.
The common thread of these stories of what holiness to the Lord looks like in everyday life is that they don’t really look like anything specific to the casual observer.
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