God told Moses to remove his shoes at the sight of the burning bush because he was standing on sacred ground. Another – Moses, coming down from the mountain with his face lit with the eternal light of God. This light was the result of standing before God receiving the commandments – the Covenant – for this newly formed people. Moses stands on holy ground again, and this time he burns with the holiness of that encounter.
I have, over the past few weeks, been writing about sacred space. I have looked at some of our liturgy and some of the theology. I have tried to inform and call us all to see what sacred space is and how to live in it. I hope to continue to do so for a bit longer.
However: I have not yet talked about the soul as sacred space, and now I feel it is time. As Moses was called to a particular ministry at the burning bush, and as he was transformed by the revelation by God on the holy mountain, so we, in our sacred spaces, find our own call to ministry and encounter the grace of transformation through Word and Sacrament. In the sacred revelation of God through Christ in the Eucharist, we encounter a burning bush and not only stand on holy ground but become holy ground ourselves. In the encounter with Christ in Communion, our soul shines with the eternal light of God.
Your soul is sacred space.
You are sacred space for God and divine revelation. Each of us is created in the Image of God believing that God seeks us out in order to dwell in us, and we in God. Being born with the image of God as a part of our humanity makes us sacred space. This image is the space God uses to take up residence and dwell in us. It is in the sacred space of our soul that God speaks to us and comforts us, from the inside out.
We encounter the transcendent God as the God within us as we receive the divine blessing that makes us whole. Entering our soul makes this transcend God the immanent one, closer to our souls than we are to ourselves. That encounter makes the place sacred.
Walking away from the communion rail, having received into ourselves the Sacrament of his very presence, we realize a transformation of the soul. Christ in us and we in Him. We become Holy Ground.