Grounding & Holy Ground
Grounded (adj.)
The physical and mental state of being confident and sure of oneself. Being grounded means you have a strong connection with who you are, which brings you physical and emotional balance.
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When I was little, I was the barefoot kid. As soon as I walked in the door from school, the shoes and socks came off. As soon as my bottom hit the pew at church, the shoes were kicked off. I'd run out our backdoor barefoot more often than not to play in the yard. I loved the feeling of grass and dirt under my feet more than socks wrapping them up.
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When I was six, I sat in children's church and listened to our pastor's wife tell us the story of a man who hid away from society after making a horrible mistake. She talked about the shock he must have felt seeing a bush on fire but not burning and hearing a voice coming out of it. She said the voice told him to remove his shoes, because he was standing on holy ground. I felt justified in my naked feet running around the church. I was like Moses.
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When I was twenty, I was working towards my double major in sociology and psychology when I learned about a fairly recent technique in the field called grounding. The goal is go restore an electrical connection between your body and the earth. There's evidence that the practice of grounding helps improve sleep, reduce stress, and help normalize your day-night cortisol rhythm among other benefits. You practice grounding by walking barefoot outdoors on grass, dirt, and sand.
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Removing your shoes is a sign of respect in many cultures and households, and I'm sure part of God telling Moses to remove His sandals was out of respect; He was in the presence of God after all. But maybe part of it was to remind Moses not to stay rooted in the mistake that had gotten him to this place, but to ground himself in the presence of the One powerful enough to keep the bush from burning.
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Confidence comes when you’re grounded in your identity. Where are your feet grounded?
Cheering you on from the sidelines,
SB
