“…the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” It really is, you know. When you are in the presence of God, you are standing on holy ground, and you are in the presence of God. Emmanuel, God with us, is with each of us and all of us here and now, always and forever; as Christ Jesus encouraged his disciples before his ascension, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mt. 28:20b)

In my kitchen there’s a plaque on the wall inscribed with the quote: “Bidden or unbidden, God is present.” It reminds me that God’s presence doesn’t rely on my invitation nor does it require what the world might consider sacred space (and what that might be could be the subject of a whole meditation on its own). Once, when I was on retreat, a friend related how stunned she had been to experience God in the bathroom that morning. In her shock, she said she blurted out, “God, don’t you know this is a bathroom?” Of course, God knows and takes advantage of every opportunity to reach us whenever or wherever we might be, whether we are awake or asleep, on the beach or a mountain top, in the kitchen or bathroom. It is all holy ground consecrated by the presence of the Holy One.

That’s the truth that Elizabeth Barrett Browning presents in her poem: “Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God, But only he who sees takes off his shoes; The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.” Lent comes to get our attention, to open our eyes to our absorption with the blackberries of life, to call us to repentance. It is time to take off our shoes, to return to the Lord with our whole hearts, contrite hearts, ready to go forth on holy ground, alert to the call of God in our day-to-day lives.