“…the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” That’s what Moses heard the Lord say when he turned aside to see the bush that was blazing but not consumed by the flames. Holy ground—what makes the ground holy? How do we recognize holy ground when there is no burning bush? Where can we expect to find holy ground?

Churches, of course, buildings that have been set aside and consecrated to God, are holy ground, but are they the only places that we find holy ground in our world today? What about pilgrimage sites and “pilgrim ways”? Some years ago, Bob and I made a pilgrimage to the Celtic Christian sites in Ireland with a group from the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Bethesda, MD. Walking with fellow pilgrims on the paths trod by pilgrims for hundreds of years, hearing the stories of the founding saints, touching the same stones, circling the same wells, praying in the same places, you know you are on holy ground.

We all have numinous experiences at one time or another in our lives, times when we are overwhelmed by the mystery of Love that we experience in creation. Perhaps it has happened for you seeing the sunrise on a beach, or viewing a sunset from a mountaintop, or watching the fog roll in among the trees in Muir woods, or catching a glimpse of the Perseids meteor shower on a clear night, or walking a labyrinth, or listening to an exquisite piece of music, or holding a newborn baby, or, if you’re like Brother Lawrence, peeling potatoes. When it happens, you know you are on holy ground.

Two things about holy ground speak to me. First, it is the presence of God that establishes holy ground. It is the place where God chooses to reveal Godself to us for God’s purposes, perhaps, as in Moses’ case, in a call, perhaps just to say, “You are precious, and I love you.” For whatever reason, it is holy ground, and we know it. And second, it is right where we are standing. We may be at work as Moses was or enjoying R and R; we maybe alone or with others; we may be intentionally open to God or not, but when the Lord is ready to reveal Godself to us, the place on which we are standing, wherever it may be, is holy ground.