Holy Ground

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Rev. Michelle LaGrave
March 23, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Join us for a restful service full of stories and music about finding Holy Ground. Rev. Michelle LaGrave weaves together a tapestry of stories accompanied by the atmospheric/symphonic stylings of music guests Thor & Friends. Take some time for rest and reflection in the midst of an increasingly chaotic world.

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

by Macrina Wiederkehr (adapted)

My bare feet walk the earth reverently for everything keeps crying.
Take off your shoes.
The ground you stand on is holy.
The ground of your being is holy.

When the wind sings through the pines like a breath of God, awakening you to the sacred present, take off your shoes.

When the sun rises, coloring your world with dawn, put on your garment of adoration, take off your shoes.

When the red maple drops its last leaf of summer, wearing its burning bush robes no longer, read between its barren bushes and take off your shoes.

When a new person comes into your life like a mystery about to unfold, and you find yourself marveling over the frailty and splendor of every human being, take off your shoes.

When, during the wee hours of the night, You drive slowly into the new day and the morning’s fog, like angel wings, hovers mysteriously above you, take off your shoes.

Take off your shoes of distraction.
Take off your shoes of ignorance and blindness.
Take off your shoes of hurry and worry.
Take off anything that prevents you from being a child of wonder.
Take off your shoes.

The ground you stand or sit or walk or roll-on is holy.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

NOTE: This is an edited ai generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.

Story for all ages

“MOSES”

So, I’m going to tell you a story today that is really, really old. People have been telling this story for more than 2 ,000 years, and eventually it got written down in both the Jewish Bible, also known as the Hebrew Scriptures, or the Torah, and the Christian Bible in what is called the Old Testament. It’s a story about someone called Moses.

So Moses was living with his wife and his father-in-law in an area near Mount Horab, and he was taking care of his father-in-law’s sheep. His father-in-law was the priest of Midian, and he was taking care of the sheep, which means that he was sort of following them around and making sure that nothing bad happened to the sheep. He was acting as a shepherd. So he was wandering around in the wilderness with his father-in-law’s sheep, and Then, for whatever reason, he decided to take a little detour and head up on Mount Horab with all the sheep, and that was a mountain that was known as the mountain of God.

And while he was walking on the mountain, all of a sudden he saw a bush that looked like it was on fire. But, Even though it looked like it was on fire, the bush wasn’t burning up. All the leaves were still green. Pretty weird, huh? So Moses said to himself, “I must turn aside and go over and look at this bush that is burning but not burning up.” And you know what he saw when he looked at the bush? It wasn’t really on fire. There was an angel in the bush, and it wasn’t one of those angels that we think of today with a white gown and white wings and a golden halo. It was an angel that looked like it was on fire. It was so bright, it was hard to look at the angel.

And then, as if that weren’t enough, all of a sudden, Moses heard the voice of God. And God said, “Moses, Moses.” And Moses said, “Here I am.” And then God said, “Come no closer. Remove the sandals from your feet because the place you are standing on is holy ground.” So Moses took off his sandals.

And God said, “I am God, the God of your father, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and he had to tell him which God he was because back then they believed that different people had different gods so he had to identify himself and Moses got afraid and hid his face because back then people thought that if you looked at God you might die. So God was, so Moses was really afraid. God is talking to him. This bush is not really on fire. He’s hiding his face. He’s got his sandals off.

So, God then said, “I have seen the misery of my people who are slaves in Egypt, and I am going to send you, Moses, to free them from slavery.”

And Moses said, “What if they don’t believe me? “What if they don’t Think that I’m really coming from you. I don’t I don’t even know who you are, What do I tell them? What is your name? and God said “I am who I am.” which it sounds a little interesting in English. In Hebrew what they wrote down is the four letters, the four consonants of God’s name, which are Yodhe, Vavhe, and which looks kind of like, sounds kind of like YVHV in English.

But you know what, they didn’t write down the vowels. So nobody really knows how to say it anyway. So now we just call God “God”.

But he said, “I am who I am. Tell them, tell those people, my people down in Egypt who are in slavery, I am has sent me to you.” This is my name forever and my title for all generations.

The reason this is important today is Two things. We’re talking about holy ground through the whole rest of the service. But also, do you remember a couple of weeks ago we had a child dedication. And, in a couple of weeks, Easter and Passover are coming up. And so we’re going to have the baby parade that we always have on Easter. But before that, we’re going to have another child dedication for, I don’t know, at least three more kids. I’m not sure how many yet.

Do you remember what we did at the beginning of the child dedication, those of you who are here? before we made the promises to the children, before we told them that we would look out for them and take care of them and help them learn and grow. The first thing we did, We said the child’s name. We asked the parents what is the name of your child and they gave us the child’s full name.

So naming is very important. When Moses learned the name of God, God told him he was standing on holy ground. And when we learn your names, when you are dedicated and then we make promises to you, we are also on holy ground. It’s a really special and sacred moment in the time of your life and we’re gonna promise to take care of you all the way until you’re grown up and then you’re gonna help take care of the kids who come next.

Story

BY Stephen Huyle

A damp chill pervades the air as Amita wends her way down the dark street to the river. For warmth, she pulls her sari about her head and adjusts her light wool shawl more tightly around her shoulders. Then she reaches down with both hands to pull her two young children along with her. They stumble sleepily as she guides them through the narrow passageways. Just above the river, she stops quickly to buy a small lamp made of a curled dry leaf. In its center, a dob of clarified butter holds a wick.

The three sidle through the huddled bodies of unidentifiable figures and down the ancient stone steps that run as far as they can see along the river’s edge. Steps grooved through centuries of use, and then the black expanse of the river fills their gaze and they slip off their sandals and walk down the last steps into the icy cold water.

The children are reluctant, their teeth chattering, their mother is determined, intent on fulfilling this ritual which begins each day of her life. They wash their bodies and their clothes with soap. All the while the sky has been lightening.

Across the river, the promise of sunrise turns the water from deep purple to rich blues tinged with orange, the shivering three steps again into the water, which now seems warm compared to the biting air. Amita is immersed to her knees, Minu and Bablu to their waists. Together they sing prayers to the goddess Ganga, who is also the river.

They visualize her magnificence, her nurturing presence as the purifier and mother of all existence. With a match, Minu lights the small leaf lamp and gently floats it out before them. At that moment, the sun’s first rays peek above the sandy horizon. And they begin singing to the sun god Sarya, the source of all energy, the great provider.

Story

“EMILY”

There once was a cow named Emily, a very frightened cow, who found herself in a slaughterhouse. She was next in line when all of a sudden, the lunch whistle blew and the workers took a break.

Well, Emily saw her chance and made her own break for it, leaping in a very uncow-like manner, right over a five foot high fence and heading for the woods. When she got to the woods, she ran with a herd of deer, all the while eluding capture by both Slaughterhouse workers and the local police.

Meanwhile, and unbeknownst to Emily, Emily’s escape made headlines. People everywhere heard Emily’s story and fell in love with the cow who had rescued herself from imminent death. In the midst of all this hubbub, a group of people came together to try to rescue Emily and after some negotiation, she was purchased for a dollar. Later, when Emily’s saviors pulled up to the edge of the woods with their truck and after having wandered in the wilderness for 40 days. Emily was ready for her ordeal to end. Encouraged with some buckets of grain, Emily walked up the ramp and was brought to her new home on the grounds of the Peace Abbey in a town called Sherborn in Massachusetts.

Emily lived for several more years and was credited by many as a teacher of love and compassion and a source of inspiration for change and growth. When Emily eventually died, she was buried on the grounds of the Peace Abbey, not far from a statue of Gandhi. Her grave is now marked by a bronze life-sized statue and clippings from her hair and a sacred thread from her ear have been released in the Ganges River. People still make pilgrimages to visit her grave.

Story

“FERRY BEACH”
It is summer, and I am spending the week at Ferry Beach, one of our UU camp and conference centers located on the coast of Maine. I awake to a beautiful, bright, sunny, and warm day and head to the beach as soon as I am dressed. I cross the boardwalk, slip out of my flip-flops, and quickly head down to the water’s edge.

There I stand with my feet buried in the sand and the waves lapping at my legs. This is my favorite place to meditate and pray, while standing and gazing out over the vast expanse of the ocean.

This morning, though, the sun is exceptionally bright and since it is early, low on the water. The sun and the sun’s reflection on the water are so bright that I cannot see the ocean before me. When I try, my eyes hurt and water and I am forced to lower my head so that I see only my toes and the water surrounding me. In this posture I remain for a long time, recognizing the humility inherent in the pose, sensing its foreignness to both myself and my culture.

And I wonder, here I am, standing before the sun and the ocean, feeling the immense power of both, forced into an attitude of deference and humility, which I cannot choose to overcome, sure of turning and walking way. And I wonder, is this how Moses would have felt barefoot and face hidden standing before God? And I wonder, is this how Amida feels every morning of her life as she stands in the sacred waters of the river, bending to light and release her lamp. And I feel connected to those who have gone before me and will come after me, to those who also experience awe and wonder and humility. Eventually I turn and slowly climb up the beach, replace my sandals, wash my feet, and return to my daily study of routine and learning.

I return to the beach often. For me, these visits are a reenactment of my own sacred creation story. As I take off my shoes and move lightly and quickly down to the water’s edge, I return to the primordial waters, to the murky origins of myself and my species. As I play and swim, I remember my origins, back when my kind were still fish in the sea.

When I finally emerge from the water and climb back up the beach, I wonder, at this struggle it always is to leave the water behind. And I imagine how difficult those first evolutionary transitions, those first climbs up onto the beach must have been. And I feel awe at those first changes from fish to amphibian. I think, then, that I understand the dolphin, a mammal who once on land chose to return to the sea. I understand for I too feel these urges, for I too feel the call of the deep, and I know. I know the power of this holy ground.

Message

In all of these stories, there is a common experience of standing or walking on holy ground. For Moses it is at Mount Horrib, for Amida in the River Ganges, for Emily and later her pilgrims on the grounds of the Peace Abby, for myself at the ocean’s edge.

At various times and in various ways we all visit holy ground. In doing so, some of us take off our shoes. Some of us come face-to-face with God. Some of us commune with the cosmos. Some of us come face-to-face with our own salvation.

I imagine there are many, many other stories about holy ground which I could tell. People of many faiths walk labyrinths, pagans cast circles, Hindus draw sacred diagrams called kolams near the entryways of their homes. Surgeons place special covers over their shoes before entering operating rooms. Walking, standing, rolling, or simply being on holy ground is a common human experience, one that many of us share.

When we visit holy ground, we experience awe and wonder. We ponder the great mysteries of life. We feel the force of evolution. We sense the power which emerges from our collective humanity, the power of change and growth, of inspiration and creativity and of love. We need not embark on a pilgrimage to far off lands to visit Holy Ground. Holy Ground is available to us at all times and in all places.

Holy Ground is here in this sanctuary; out there in the art gallery; around the corner at Howson Hall where we visit with each other after the service; down that hallway there where the children meet for classes and staff work to fulfill the mission of this congregation; out on the playgrounds and in the youth room; in your homes, and in so many, many places.

It is we who must set an intention to understand the ground we happen upon is holy. It is we who must pay attention. An experience of the sacred of the Holy is available to us at any time, anywhere. When I received my call to ministry, I was not at a pilgrimage to a sacred site or standing at the ocean’s edge. I was sitting at my dining room table reading a magazine. Moving to an Understanding of the ground we find ourselves upon as sacred or holy grounds can feel risky. And it’s not a journey to be undertaken lightly.

When we visit holy grounds, we confront the nature of life and death. We gain insight. We become self-aware. We come face-to-face with those parts of ourselves and others we had not previously known. We realize our human nature. We may even come to know God.

Where is your holy ground? Where do you take off your shoes? When do you bow your head?

As Unitarian Universalists, it is our religious duty to follow the paths each of us finds sacred to ourselves. These paths are incredibly diverse, take many forms and lead in many directions. They are all holy. As together we navigate the triumphs and tribulations of this great mystery we call human life. We are blessed to be able to join together in this community of faith, which honors such divergent understandings of the human, of the divine, of the holy. May we be so blessed evermore.

Amen and blessed be.

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

Open your eyes, your ears, your hearts, your minds, your spirits. The ground you sit, stand, walk, roll, dance, crawl upon is holy. As you remember, as you leave this place, remember you are blessed. The holy, the sacred, is available to you at all times and in all places. Go forth, blessing all others as you yourselves are now blessed. Amen and blessed be.

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