Standing barefoot............isn't it all Holy Ground?
"...take off your sandals for the
place you are standing is Holy Ground'
exodus 3:5
Sacred and Holy,
when I read the story in scripture of Moses spotting the burning bush in the middle of the desert heat....I have to wonder if it had been me out there in the heat tending stinky, smelly sheep, sweating and walking and watching always for predators that might rob my herd of their life....I wonder if I'd have been open to partake in such a Divine Encounter of the Holy kind.
I want to think I would...hope I would.....but then again,
I walk through life every day and probably walk by 1,000 burning bush moments a day without even noticing. Life happens and I rush around, hurry around, move around,
take care of family, friends,
work,
pay bills,
drive kids to and from places,
and
all the while,
zoning out some of the time.
I can't say that it happens all the time,
for
I do have moments,
divine moments
when
i have no choice but to kick off my shoes and
stand barefoot in awe and wonder of the magnificence of Creation, the Sacredness of life and the way all things are interconnected and part of each other.
A Jewish friend of mine once said, "Girl, you need to get out of this place (the place where I earn my living) and get out there and do the thing you love the most." I remember looking at her and smiling and
then
responding,
:well.....there are bushes burning everywhere I look, everywhere you look,
truth is,
most days
I just don't take the time to acknowledge the wonder of what's right in front of me but if I do...well it fills me in the same way as when I worked in a church day after day...:
It is all Holy, isn't it?
Life that is,
sacred in all kinds of ways,
holy in ways there are no words to articulate,
Divine in a way that perhaps, if we are honest,
we are too embarrassed to even acknowledge.
We live and move and breath and work,
watch and speak and run,
and
there IT is.....
that opportunity to stand,
full faced,
eye to eye
with
a metaphoric representation of the Divine...
and
more often than not,
we lace up our shoes tighter,
stomp our working boots,
hold our flip flops tighter with our toes all scrunched up tight and rigid.
When I deliver a sermon,
as i read the scripture,
I always kick off my "preaching" shoes behind the pulpit,
I want to acknowledge in a tangible,
kinestetic kind of way,
my connection to the world
in the midst of
this thing I call
God...
I want to feel the holiness,
experience the sacredness,
stand in disbelief and awe of that which I cannot explain,
understand,
or even at times
be sure "IT" is there.
I kick them off,
and
i watch....
and
it never fails,
the lean of a person into the words flowing out will occur,
a tear from someone will drop, a nod or hum,
or
a bird will fly past the window in the bright blue sky,
and
it happens,
the bush bursts into flames,
and
for just a moment,
for that is all I can stand,
I feel connected
to that THING
that is bigger than myself.
I look at the picture above of a giant mushroom I ran across on Saturday while walking,
I look closer,
dew on the grass,
molecules and atoms so tightly woven together,
bunched up in clusters,
colors splashed,
and
I feel the same....
Awe,
a sense of sacredness,
connected to the Divine and the world
in an interconnected--part of--kind of way.
I stand,
and
before i know it...
I have to do it,
kick them off that is,
stand skin to ground,
feel the coolness against me,
and
suddenly
there in my naked feet,
right before my busy eyes,
God comes,
appears in the midst of sacred ground
and
I am changed if you will
by something
I never am able to explain,
mysterious,
mystical,
love-enfolded
sacred
Holy...
and
I say to myself,
I guess really if I admit it...
the bush is always burning...
The Divine "IT" is always present....
enfolding,
embracing,
enriching
my world
with
wonder
and
when I am open enough to see the flames,
feel the heat,
wonder what is in front of me...
I do it...
I kick them off...
stand there barefoot
and
experience the Holy....
IT is all Holy ground you know...
so go ahead and do it...
trust what you sense,
feel,
don't understand...
when you do...
I promise you...
You'll be changed.....
May each of us,
unlace our shoes,
take off our socks and stockings and
wiggle our toes as they stand in the midst of wet grass, desert heat,
or river bed....
Go ahead...
the bush is burning......
take them off...
What's your excuse...?
wishing a moment of awe and wonder
a second of Holy Ground burning bush kind of moment...
May it be so..
for all of us tonight,
Blessings and hugs..
Sacred and Holy,
when I read the story in scripture of Moses spotting the burning bush in the middle of the desert heat....I have to wonder if it had been me out there in the heat tending stinky, smelly sheep, sweating and walking and watching always for predators that might rob my herd of their life....I wonder if I'd have been open to partake in such a Divine Encounter of the Holy kind.
I want to think I would...hope I would.....but then again,
I walk through life every day and probably walk by 1,000 burning bush moments a day without even noticing. Life happens and I rush around, hurry around, move around,
take care of family, friends,
work,
pay bills,
drive kids to and from places,
and
all the while,
zoning out some of the time.
I can't say that it happens all the time,
for
I do have moments,
divine moments
when
i have no choice but to kick off my shoes and
stand barefoot in awe and wonder of the magnificence of Creation, the Sacredness of life and the way all things are interconnected and part of each other.
A Jewish friend of mine once said, "Girl, you need to get out of this place (the place where I earn my living) and get out there and do the thing you love the most." I remember looking at her and smiling and
then
responding,
:well.....there are bushes burning everywhere I look, everywhere you look,
truth is,
most days
I just don't take the time to acknowledge the wonder of what's right in front of me but if I do...well it fills me in the same way as when I worked in a church day after day...:
It is all Holy, isn't it?
Life that is,
sacred in all kinds of ways,
holy in ways there are no words to articulate,
Divine in a way that perhaps, if we are honest,
we are too embarrassed to even acknowledge.
We live and move and breath and work,
watch and speak and run,
and
there IT is.....
that opportunity to stand,
full faced,
eye to eye
with
a metaphoric representation of the Divine...
and
more often than not,
we lace up our shoes tighter,
stomp our working boots,
hold our flip flops tighter with our toes all scrunched up tight and rigid.
When I deliver a sermon,
as i read the scripture,
I always kick off my "preaching" shoes behind the pulpit,
I want to acknowledge in a tangible,
kinestetic kind of way,
my connection to the world
in the midst of
this thing I call
God...
I want to feel the holiness,
experience the sacredness,
stand in disbelief and awe of that which I cannot explain,
understand,
or even at times
be sure "IT" is there.
I kick them off,
and
i watch....
and
it never fails,
the lean of a person into the words flowing out will occur,
a tear from someone will drop, a nod or hum,
or
a bird will fly past the window in the bright blue sky,
and
it happens,
the bush bursts into flames,
and
for just a moment,
for that is all I can stand,
I feel connected
to that THING
that is bigger than myself.
I look at the picture above of a giant mushroom I ran across on Saturday while walking,
I look closer,
dew on the grass,
molecules and atoms so tightly woven together,
bunched up in clusters,
colors splashed,
and
I feel the same....
Awe,
a sense of sacredness,
connected to the Divine and the world
in an interconnected--part of--kind of way.
I stand,
and
before i know it...
I have to do it,
kick them off that is,
stand skin to ground,
feel the coolness against me,
and
suddenly
there in my naked feet,
right before my busy eyes,
God comes,
appears in the midst of sacred ground
and
I am changed if you will
by something
I never am able to explain,
mysterious,
mystical,
love-enfolded
sacred
Holy...
and
I say to myself,
I guess really if I admit it...
the bush is always burning...
The Divine "IT" is always present....
enfolding,
embracing,
enriching
my world
with
wonder
and
when I am open enough to see the flames,
feel the heat,
wonder what is in front of me...
I do it...
I kick them off...
stand there barefoot
and
experience the Holy....
IT is all Holy ground you know...
so go ahead and do it...
trust what you sense,
feel,
don't understand...
when you do...
I promise you...
You'll be changed.....
May each of us,
unlace our shoes,
take off our socks and stockings and
wiggle our toes as they stand in the midst of wet grass, desert heat,
or river bed....
Go ahead...
the bush is burning......
take them off...
What's your excuse...?
wishing a moment of awe and wonder
a second of Holy Ground burning bush kind of moment...
May it be so..
for all of us tonight,
Blessings and hugs..
Labels: mystery and Holy
posted by pleemiller @ 7:53 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
You pretty much said what i could not effectively communicate. +1
My blog:
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I liked, very much, the part about you needing to feel kinesthetically connected, or about you needing to be one with that fabric of time. The completeness must feel liberating. Knowing that it's all right and all there to be acknowledged. The body melds with the elements. Sublime as always, Pam. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this reminder, Pam! I love it, and it's stirring up several thoughts. The next-to-last line of EBB's "Earth's crammed with heaven..." poem is, "but only he who sees takes off his shoes." I'm realizing all the moments I haven't looked for or seen the bush and that's a blessing, because now I can see! Thank you for your comment today as well - I really appreciate it!
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