Encountering the Sacred

What Grounds You?

“Geese appear high over us,

pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,

as in love or sleep, holds

them to their way, clear

in the ancient faith: what we need

is here. And we pray, not

for new earth or heaven, but to be

quiet in heart, and in eye,

clear. What we need is here.”

Wendell Berry (What we need is here)

I have been exploring Diana Butler Bass's book, Grounded: Finding God in the World-A Spiritual Revolution. The impetus to write this book came from a question her husband asked her, “What grounds you?” It's a very good question. Diana Butler Bass is an historian focusing on the history of Christianity. She explains in a podcast, that the notion of where God is located has changed. What once was taught by established religions—that God was in heaven and that heaven was in the sky—is reflected in the ascension stories in the Old and New Testaments. To contact God, one needed an intercessor—usually a priest— and certain creeds, prayers and rituals had to be performed to pave the way.

Now, however, we have brought God home, so to speak. We have realized that the sky is no more sacred than the earth; that we can encounter holiness right here on this planet. And, in fact, the feeling of being grounded in Spirit is most acute when we are doing everyday things. Most of us know the feeling of “a holy moment” when we look into the eyes of a new-born creature, whether human baby, puppy, kitten, or even, duck. We know that the deep resonance of friendship is holy ground. We experience sacredness when we hear geese honking overhead, and then see their amazing v-shaped flight. Hearing loons calling to one another across a misty morning lake does it for me. In other words: “What we need is here.”

What grounds me in Spirit is observing the beauty of nature—the processes, for instance, that we take for granted—trees changing from green leaves to red ones, the moon waxing and waning, or autumn chipmunks running across rock walls, their cheeks stuffed so full they can barely hold up their heads. I am grounded when my dog, Liza, does her happy dance, and when things I have planted with my own hands bloom and fruit. What we need is here already. All that is required of us is to open our eyes, and our hearts, and see it. When we do, God comes pouring in. So, what grounds you?

                                                            In the Spirit,

                                                               Jane