By the Rev. Jon Rieley-Goddard

    When Moses turned aside, out of curiosity, to see why the bush was burning but not consumed, little did he know that things would never be the same for him.

    When God said, out of the Burning Bush, that Moses should take off his sandals, because he was standing on Holy Ground, what was Moses thinking? In the fire in God’s eyes, Moses could see his future, and the future of humanity. Did he know that that was what he was looking at?

    Probably not. That’s the way things go, usually. We follow our curiosity, and in the midst of being amazed, and amused, by the bright lights, God creeps in on little cat’s feet. We don’t know for a while, or for a long time, that things as usual will be unusual from now on, and that we will look for the comfortable and find only challenge. We will call out for ourselves, but we no longer will answer to that call. We wander, looking for safety and find only challenge. When we find challenge, we feel fear and forget to breathe. Then breath rushes back in, and we remember the importance of taking in the air that God has breathed before us.

    Out of this tangle of though and emotion, one concept burns in my mind – Holy Ground.

    The sound of this phrase in my mind puts a lump in my throat.

    Holy Ground. Mine, yours, and ours.

    1815 Pierce Avenue.

***

    When the Reverend and I put money down on a house in Buffalo on the West Side, we did so because we wanted to be part of the community. We wanted to make a commitment to the city that we had moved to in great hope.

    For our sins, the bank accepted our application and the seller accepted our terms.

    An aging house in a Rust Belt city neighborhood was ours. Selling again is out of the question; no one is likely to be interested.

    Our insurance agent secured a homeowner’s policy for us and made it clear that he did it as a favor. The presence of workers, who were replacing clapboards and painting the exterior, helped, too, but he implied that he endorsed the policy against his better judgment.

    Welcome to the city.

    Welcome to the jungle.

    You choose.

    Holy Ground. Ours as long as the sun shines, or until such time that we cease to be we and return to the dust. Forever, or a long time, which ever comes first. Ours, because we will never be able to sell it, and ours because we want to be where God has placed us. For both reasons, and so many others. Holy Ground for us, who had wandered from place to place, changing addresses five times in the year after graduating from seminary.

    Thus the lump in the throat. I will not willingly again pack a box with belongings and wander forth. Holy Ground means blessed with a place to live. Holy Ground means challenged to find ways to be content, and even abundant, in place. Holy Ground means the usual, awesome conflation of love and challenge that God gives us as gift.

***

    Last summer, at 1815 Pierce Avenue, we stood on Holy Ground, also known as Pierce Avenue Presbyterian Church, and watched the weeds grow and the grass grow and the roses wither and the shrubs run amuck. We stood on Holy Ground with eyes closes and minds wandering. Some of us were too busy, some of us just didn’t care, some of us though that someone else was in charge of grass and rose and shrub and weed.

    Our Holy Ground became a reproach to us, and finally someone and someone else and a few more concerned folk did something.

    We had sinned against ourselves, our legacy, and our God. There was anger, and shame.

***

    I am not interesting in having an investigation into why we turned our backs on our Holy Ground. That way lies endless impotency. I would rather resolve to use the experience to spur us to rededicate ourselves, in common effort, to do better by God’s gift to us. The Elders join me in this determination to hallow our Holy Ground.

    How, you ask?

    It’s so simple that it took us many months to realize what was right before us. We are determined to plant, to weed, and to trim and mow. In short, we will treat this Holy Ground as such.

    Saturday, May 17, we will invite Everyone to join in a planting day.

    We are standing on Holy Ground. For God’s sake, let us resume the practice of honoring our Holy Ground.

    And since I am determined that no one will ever be left behind here, I urge Everyone to come. If you can make it to church, you can make it to this special day. If you cannot weed like Peter, if you cannot mow like Paul, you can sit in a comfortable chair in the shade and supervise. We will love you for it!

***

    This is my and the Elders’ guidance for this time in the life of our church concerning Mission. Step One is to take care of our Holy Ground. Step Two is to declare the street on which our Holy Ground stands to be Holy Ground as well, but we don’t need to run ahead too far. Let us simply declare to ourselves that we will honor the immediate Holy Ground in outward ways that offer the love of God in the gift of flowers and grass to those who pass by, to those who live nearby, and to those who step across the boundary of the world at large into the world as Holy Ground.

    In Native American traditions, there are annual renewal rites, with fire and dance and chant, to cleanse and purify the face of the creation. The Holy Grounds where these rites are observed have strict rules concerning one’s thoughts and feelings, as well as one’s behaviors. A persons who thinks or speaks ill of another, inside this Holy Place, transgresses against the community and the creator.

    What would it be like if we could renew our sense of Holy Ground to the point where we were determined to speak or even think no ill of anyone, whenever we were on our Holy Ground?

    There is a peace and tidiness to these holy places. I’ve seen such places. Even though there is dirt and rock in great measure, there is no clutter or mess. Let us do likewise with our holy place, so we can be a blessing through our ground – our holy dirt – to our neighbors.

***

    Moses turned aside out of curiosity to see an amazing sight. He wanted to discover why the bush burned but was not consumed. Moses had a lot to learn, and God was a willing and exacting Teacher. Let us learn the lesson that Moses shows us, and God places before us.

    Mission begins at home.

    We have neighbors, and we want to be good neighbors.

    Good neighbors keep their property in good order. This is basic respect for self and others. Neighbors share respect; this is the ordained level of love between neighbors. Neighbors don’t know everything about their neighbors. This level of intimacy is reserved to families.

    Simply put, our mission is to learn how to become, and continue to be, good neighbors.

    Once we reach and maintain this goal, and really feel the power of occupying our Holy Ground, God will show us the next step.

    Grab a shovel or a chair. We have work to do.