When’s the last time you used the phrase “holy ground” to explain an experience that you had with God or with another person? This phrase is common in Christian spaces, lodged in our imaginations since childhood when we learned about Moses and the burning bush.
Then God said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
Exodus 3:5
Reflecting on a recent impactful encounter with God and community, I reached for that phrase, but with a different spin. For the past year, I’ve found that reading and writing poetry is a helpful way for me to reflect on my experiences. I was writing about this particular encounter through poetry when the following stanza just came out of me:
When the Spirit breathes, Settle in. Don’t move. Receive it. Don’t run on holy ground.
It’s this last line - Don’t run on holy ground - that I’ve been reflecting on for some time now.
Running is my default mode. Not physical running, of course, but the idea of “running through life.” Moving to the next thing, prioritizing the novel over the routine, failing to listen, my attention moving from thing to thing, always looking for a new revelation without fully reflecting on the last one. These refrains (sadly) describe me well.
Why not run on holy ground? Because to rush on holy ground is antithetical to what it means to be human. Holy ground is where we discover God, discover ourselves, and learn what it means to live with purpose. Holy ground is where our emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual selves integrate. Holy ground is where we meet God and, if we linger like Moses, might dare to ask, “What is your name?”
I’m learning to appreciate holy ground while I’m standing on it. I’m tired of only identifying the soil of holy ground once it’s in the past.
Now, as all of these thoughts flew through my head, I realized that I was about to forsake the very truths that I was experiencing by moving on too quickly. So, I slowed down again and reflected on the idea of holy ground itself.
What makes holy ground holy? My recent experience had to do with Christian fellowship, a powerful teaching, and God speaking to me. But, that’s not the only way that I can experience holy ground. Holy ground is: 1) wherever God’s presence is and 2) where I become aware of God’s presence. God’s presence is everywhere, but our awareness of God’s presence is often limited, distracted, or even nonexistent.
Which leads me to ask, “What if all of life is holy ground?” All of life can be an avenue for encountering God - by direct encounter, in seeing people who are image bearers, in seeing the creation that God has made, and more.
But, you’ll miss it if you’re running by.
In fact, the slow pace that is necessary to perceive holy ground is actually the pace we need to flourish, to listen, to love, and to survive as disciples of Jesus.
I’m writing this while sitting on a bench outside of an airport - the place where people get picked up by friends and Ubers. It doesn’t smell great. The scenery isn’t inspirational. In general, this is an environment where people try to spend the least amount of time possible. If they have to be there, they are likely glued to their phone.
What if even this place is sacred? Do I have the redemptive imagination to see this as holy ground? A place where I just may encounter God and people and creation?
Eugene Peterson tells a great story in Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places about a new seminarian and his wife. During the first week of school, he kept telling his wife that he was going to go enjoy God’s creation. After a few days, she finally confronted him and said that he should probably go to class instead of just enjoying the beautiful scenery of their new city. He was confused and told her that he’d been going to class all week. The creation that he had been enjoying each morning was the bus ride to campus, full of God’s image bearers who are God’s creation.
Since reading that story, I try to say this phrase whenever I’m in a crowded space: “Look at all of these image bearers!” It’s a re-framing statement that reminds me I’m in a sacred space (despite what my flesh sees).
Jesus, wake us up to see you and to see the holy ground that we run over every day. Spirit, we want to see the sacred all around us. In your mercy, transform our eyes and our imaginations today, to see this whole world as holy ground.
So good, Shady!!
I love that man. Don't run on holy ground.