October 20, 2023

I went for a walk along the river near the University of Minnesota campus wth my Gopher yesterday. The fall colors in the early evening light were absolutely exquisite. I was reminded of one of my favorite poems:

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.

― Elizabeth Barrett Browning

As I'm sure you know, the third line of the poem refers to the story of the Burning Bush, from Exodus. In the story, when Moses walks over to examine the burning bush, God says, "Moses! Moses! Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing is holy ground." (Exodus 3:5)

There is nothing wrong with picking blackberries, of course. In fact, there is a lot that is right with picking blackberries. But oh, to see the earth as "crammed with heaven"! To see the presence of God in every common bush! That is my prayer for you this week: glimpses and glimmers and occasions to remove your shoes.