A lamp inside a jar

Survey: One Out of Five Americans Holy

From Beliefnet.com

A new survey indicates that 21 percent of Americans consider themselves holy.

The survey, conducted by the Barna Research Group, also found that 73 percent of Americans believe that a person can become holy, regardless of his past, while half of those surveyed said they knew someone whom they considered holy.

The study also asked Americans to define holy. The largest category of respondents (21 percent) admitted they didn't know how to. The highest number that had an idea said "being Christ-like'' (19 percent), while 18 percent said "making faith your top priority.''

My comment:

I believe that we are all 'holy' in the sense that we all have the capacity to live a life of compassion and wisdom. Even though most of us live in a way that falls short of our spiritual potential, our capacity for love remains undiminished. "Like a lamp inside a jar," our spiritual light is everburning within us:

There is an adamantine Buddha Nature
Within the bodies of sentient beings.
Like the sun, it is essentially bright,
Perfect, and complete.
Although vast and limitless,
It is merely covered by the layered clouds
Of the five skandas.
Like a lamp inside a jar,
Its light shines nonetheless.

- Sutra of the Ten Stages