Is anything sacred anymore?

What would a conversation around the idea of 'sacred' sound like?  Every religion of every stripe has defined the 'sacred' to include people, places, things and possibly even something as abstract as an idea.

Within religious conversation, 'sacred' generally points to the Divine, an eternal Spirit, a source of Life or Light.  In the Christian Bible, something becomes sacred when it is dedicated to the purpose of the Holy.  Thus sacred and holy are linked, and stand in opposition to 'the profane' or ordinary (don't confuse this word 'profane' with profanity.  It doesn't have the negative meaning we give to profane speech in the 21st century.)

This binary system of 'sacred/profane' points to a particular view of the world; one might call it an 'either/or' perspective.  You are one thing or you are the other.  Little gray area here.

Therefore, when there are only two options, one must be very careful to guard the distinctions.  The sacred/holy must be used, treated, approached, disposed of very differently than the ordinary or profane stuff of life.  So if you have a hole in your sock you throw it away.  If you have a communion chalice that has become unsafe because the silver plate is worn off.....well, what do you do with that?  Sell it at a garage sale?

This can lead to all kinds of squirrely stuff (well, squirrely to me, not to the folks who hold to the practices in question) which in the end risks losing the larger reality which is the Divine Life to which the item or practice is dedicated.  Somehow the ritual becomes the God.  The God we are honoring ends up in the back seat.

So, how do we talk about the sacred?
Where do you experience 'the sacred'?
How have dedicated practices which are holy to you helped your spiritual growth?