by Lisa Caine

Dianna Butler Bass has recently published a new book Grounded: Finding God in the World. During Lent she is writing a regular meditation on aspects of the book and posting it on her Facebook page.  This is a recent one.

“I did not what to leave. I wanted to stay forever, embraced by the spare holiness. I sensed a connection with the place, the strange sensation of once having been there, even though I had never entered a Quaker meeting house before . . .I [felt] like I’m home.” (Grounded, p. 135)

Acts 7:33, after Exodus 3:5

Then the Lord said to him, ‘take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’

Reflection:

Have you ever been somewhere that made you feel like you were home? A place that gave you a powerful sense of connection, of mysterious presence, of knowing yourself more deeply? Some scientists now suggest that our genes carry patterns of memory that we inherit from our ancestors, and thee memories actually connect us with people and practices from long ago. We do “remember” places we have never been. In this way, the past is always with us. Perhaps some places jog deep and ancient memory, alerting us to a different reality than the one of our immediate experience. Is this one of the ways we “remember” God? Are there places that serve as the holy ground of our lives?

Prayer:

Give me a deeper sense of wonder, God, that even my genes carry memory of my ancestor – and an even more ancient memory – the spiritual memory of you as Creator. Attune me to the places where I stumble into grace; may I be able to discern holy ground. Amen.