The 4th word in my Lent Lexicon is
HOLY GROUND
I’m reflecting on the encounter between God and Moses at the burning bush. There are certain places that we think of as “holy”. There are places we go to deliberately to seek God. It might be a church or a prayer room, or a corner of our house that we use as a prayer space. There can also be places outside where we feel it is easier to connect with God. We sometimes call these “thin places”, they are often places of great natural beauty.
Moses is in the midst of a very ordinary activity on an ordinary day. He’s not in any place that’s officially marked as holy or religious or anywhere particularly beautiful. It’s in the ordinary that God reaches out to Moses, using his curiosity about the “strange sight” of the burning bush to draw him into a conversation. As soon as Moses draws close God call out to him:
“Take off your shoes…for the place on which you stand is holy ground.”
We too stand on holy ground. Whatever we are involved in we’re in the presence of God. Lent gives us the opportunity to reflect on what that means in today’s fragmented world. God offers Moses a promise and a challenge. The promise is that God will be with him whatever he faces. God also challenge him to go out of his comfort zone in ways he could never have imagined. We also receive that promise and are challenged to move beyond the boundaries where we feel safe and comfortable.
Where are you being invited to discover the promise & challenge of holy ground in your life this Lent?