We are currently in the season of ‘Lent’ – an important time in the Christian year. Lent starts with Shrove Tuesday (‘pancake day’) and Ash Wednesday, and runs up to Easter. It is a time when Christians remember Jesus taking time to fast and pray in the wilderness, and traditionally it is a time when they might also make space for prayer, study, fasting and service: deepening their connection with God and neighbour through different spiritual disciplines, writes Rev Oli Preston
This Lent I have tried something new – being barefoot as much as possible. The prompt for this came in a church service I was sat in when an ancient story from the Bible was being read – a passage from Exodus about Moses and the burning bush. In this story God calls to Moses from a bush that is on fire but not burning up, saying “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” As I heard these words read I felt a stirring in my heart, and I must confess that I didn’t really listen to much of the rest of what happened that evening!
Being barefoot on the rough, cold ground of Haworth and Cross Roads is perhaps more uncomfortable than it was for Moses on the warm sand of the desert, but it has been a wonderful spiritual practice. I have had to slow down – you simply can’t walk as fast with bare feet! I have felt much more aware of and connected to the places I am – grounded and alert. And I love the echo of the Moses story in my head, imagining what it might mean for each place – for this place – to be holy ground. As the weather warms up again perhaps you too might like to try (even for a few minutes) letting the soles of your feet touch the earth.
