Holy Ground & an Earth on Fire

 

Take, take off your shoes,

you’re standing on holy ground;
take, take off your shoes,
you’re standing on holy ground.
Well, the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof
from the waters beneath to the heav’ens above,
so take, take, take off your shoes,
you’re standing on my holy ground,
you’re standing on my holy ground.

On the eighth day of creation, well, the Lord looked around
at the power stations, freeways and the junk on the ground,
the factories with their waste-dumps and their chimneys so high,
you couldn’t see the sun for all the smog in the sky.
Well, kids, you really filled the earth and then you subdued it,
but there’s nothing in my book that says you’ve got to pollute it.
So,
Take, take off your shoes…

Take Off Your Shoe -- James Manley

Yesterday I went to the lectionary readings in search of the psalm and noticed that the Old Testament passage was from Exodus 3, the story of the wilderness call of Moses by God from the bush which was burning at its heart. Moses, the fugitve from Egypt is instructed to take off his shoes because he is on holy ground.

I was taken off guard by my emotion reading these well-known verses because our planetary home is in crisis. Each day we hear of extreme heat and wildfires in Europe, Asia, the United States. It was 37C in the Northwest Territories last week. 

Because Earth is getting hotter we are also experiencing shocking deluges and violent storms because of unprecedented evaporation. Our holy ground, sacred water, precious air, are all being compromised and our hubris and denial have us on a path to self-destruction. The climate scientists have only been wrong in that this is unfolding faster than they anticipated as environmental systems collapse. Read this tweet, and perhaps weep: 

Edgar McGregor

@edgarrmcgregor

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Jul 11

8. All of these things have culminated in June 2023 easily being the hottest June in recorded history for planet Earth. It's likely the hottest June in 115,000 - 120,000 years when Earth was last this warm.

                                                                 Global Heat Map July 2023

This hymn (verses above and below), written by Jim Manley nearly 50 years ago, comes to mind once again and its clever notion of getting a second opinion on the concept of humans exercizing dominion has gone from being timely to urgent.

I also think of Steven Chase's A Field Guide to Nature as Spiritual Practice and the chapter heading which is borrows from phrase from the Lord's Prayer, "on Earth as it is..." While we may have our convictions about heaven and its landscape, we want the Creator's will to be done on Earth, as it is as the home to all living creatures. 

Those same climate scientists -- "your scientific minds" -- including Christian and Canadian Katharine Hayhoe tell us it's not too late to change our foolish ways. Will we listen to God inviting us to take off shoes and recognize that the Earth is holy? 

You’ve heated up my rivers with industrial mills,

you’re killing off my oceans with your wastes and your spills,
you’re fishing like there’ll always be an endless supply,
and fighting one another for what’s left to divide.
You didn’t want advice when I first gave you dominion,
but maybe now it’s time to get a second opinion.
So,
Take, take off your shoes…

Your scientific minds – make sure you use them with care:
you’re breaking down my ozone layer up in the air,
your fertilizer’s turning mighty rivers bright green.
some folks are getting fatter while so many grow lean.
I told you to be fruitful and you sure multiplied,
but the rich took all the land and never learned to divide.
So,
Take, take off your shoes…