The voice that came out of the burning bush told Moses “Take off your shoes. You are standing on holy ground.” But you don’t need a mysterious voice from a flaming bush to take of your shoes and let the place where you are be holy.
Where have you stood barefoot on holy ground?
I was lucky enough to go to Israel and walk through the old city. It all felt holy and still, not that much more holy than where I’m standing right now. Remembering that today is my goal today. It’s been tough getting back to that spiritual place of true inner peace lately. I know I can reach that sweet place when I’m fully grounded — that’s what I want today. Peace & Love <3
Years ago I took a group of middle-schoolers (ages 12, 13, and 14) to France. One of my kids was entranced with the ancient-ness of many of the sites. She kept taking her shoes off and placing her bare feet down so she could commune with the history of places like Notre Dame de Paris, Mont-St.-Michel, the Louvre, and Luxembourg Gardens. She said “I’ll never again think of something that was built in the 1700s as ‘old’.” I’ve been inspired ever since by her sensitivity to place and history.
One traveling along the highways of the southwestern U.S. experiences a number of roadside decorated crosses, presumably at the sites of traffic related deaths. When visiting a site of a Civil War battlefield, now a lush meadow surrounded by split rail fencing, a similar feeling of respect can be felt. It may just be the precariousness of life, or the resonance of common humanity. Instead of removing footwear, these sites often take the form of a respectful silence, however brief.