by Tim Baker.
What constitutes holy ground? Is all ground holy, or is some more holy than others? This poem unpacks the sacredness of the dirt under our feet – what questions does it unlock for you?
Holy Ground
The soil crumbles in between my fingers,
But there lingers a sense of the deep,
The creep of roots out of sight,
Crawlies that live below the light,
And the sleep of a million million layers pressing
Ever downward.
I press my fingers into the dirt,
And the little stones and thorns and spikes hurt
A little bit, but no where near as much as I feel alive,
I thrive in the grittiness where everything thrives
And trees survive
In the hive of creatures and creepers and clay.
The soil is washing away and breaking down,
While we build another city, extend another town,
But it is here, with my hands lost in sandy loam
That we are closest to home,
Closest to the God who shaped us,
Like I’m shaping this mound
And waiting to be found
By the Spirit who moves over this ground,
The bit of compost in my back yard,
Where suddenly feeling connected doesn’t feel so hard
And I take off my shoes for a moment,
Because the bush isn’t burning,
But there’s a glimpse of glory in the bird-sound
And I think I’m standing on holy ground.
You might like to spend a few minutes today thinking about the earth around you – in your garden, in plant pots, in a nearby park. If you get chance, you could put your fingers into the soil, feel the grit between your fingers, and pray.
You might like to listen to this song by David Benjamin Blower as you do.
And be still. And be still.
Theology Everywhere 
Well – that was a different start to Monday morning! Thank you. It opens so many ways into infinity and eternity, via geology, history, climate change and political will, that I don’t know how to comment. Except ‘Thank you.’
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I wondered whether the starting point for this was Al and Simon’s reflections at Conference or whether this pre-dated them? Certainly very connected. I love how God makes us out of the dirt in Genesis 2
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Your words resonate on so many levels. Beautiful and fierce!
As a poet I relate to the passion, movement and cadence of your words. As a theologan you give me many questions and I pause to ponder them.
Above all as a Christian I praise God for your gifts and I thank Him for all He does. We have a God of the impossible who has done so much for us. I pray that we continue to see Him everywhere, in everyone and in ourselves.
Bless you.
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Land needs to be subject to crop rotation or spreading fertiliser on it to give it life. Dead land or a desert is no use to a farmer; a well-manured field is far more “holy”.
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What I wanted to say in my comment above is that God is Love and nothing can separate us from that love; and in that sense all life is “holy”.
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