Sacred Moments and Emotions
In our latest report, The State of Religion & Young People 2023: Exploring the Sacred, young people report that sacred moments are characterized by truth, wonder, awe, gratitude, and a sense of interconnectedness. These moments can take place while experiencing certain emotional states, like inspiration or suffering, and usually evoke certain feelings as a result.
What did you experience during your sacred moment
Percentages of young people who responded “somewhat true” or “very true.” Respondents were allowed to select more than one option.
Emma, 21, found a sacred moment in realizing a lifelong dream:
A sacred moment that I had was going to college, because not everybody gets the opportunity to go to college and not everybody graduates in four years, which I’m on track to do. So, I think getting into college was a sacred moment for me. And it also marked when I would finally get the independence that I wanted.
What did you experience during your sacred moment?
Percentages of young people who responded “somewhat true” or “very true.” Respondents were allowed to select more than one option.
Naima, 24, recalled a time when her family was dealing with her brother’s mental-health crisis, and how amid the emotional turmoil she had a breakthrough moment:
I was just lying in bed and I started thinking about different Bible verses. . . . I started pouring my heart out to God. In that moment, I felt like my spirit laughed. I felt like God and my spirit were laughing with each other inside of my soul. My spirit was still experiencing joy amidst this grief and frustration, which in turn helped me experience joy and also [the desire] to heal.
Elaine, 23, experienced a sacred moment when she was living in Spain for a church mission and started feeling the stress of being surrounded by new people and places:
I specifically just remember like right before bed just thinking long and hard and really praying and really pouring out my soul kind of. And then I just undeniably felt like something that didn't just come from inside of me that it was going to be okay. And the funny thing is that we met one of like the most important people in my life after that . . . so it was definitely a big turning point in my life. [The entire experience] connected me to a wider perspective, like not just getting so wrapped up in my head in my own life . . . caring about other people more. Also just knowing that it's going to be okay on a life level and from an eternal perspective.
What did you experience during your sacred moment?
Percentages of young people who responded “somewhat true” or “very true.” Respondents were allowed to select more than one option.
Kaylee, 21, remembered wanting to cry during her sacred moment, describing it as a “whoa experience”:
The emotional reaction was more like, I was just uncontrollable. It was an emotional experience in my head too . . . not that I was sobbing. I was in front of people, so I didn’t want to cry, but I was like tearing up. I think I was on and off about whether there’s an afterlife. Now I at least think there’s something. I don’t know what, but, you know, something. . . . That’s been the only thing that’s ever solidified that.
Vijay, 18, recalled a time crossing the road and seeing an oncoming car moving very fast toward him:
And I don't think I realized that but I felt like this sudden push. I mean it sounds crazy but I felt a sudden push which tripped me over and I was able to dodge that car just barely by enough to save my life. I think that really opened my eyes and brought perspective and thought [that] there was no way I could have done that by myself. It was like a flat road. There was nothing else I could trip on. So I thought maybe this is God's way of saying I still have more things to do on this planet.
