I've always loved the part in the Bible where Moses is busy tending his father-in-law's sheep in the desert and notices something strange - a burning bush that is not being destroyed by the flames. When Moses ventures to take a closer look, God tells him: "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." (Exodus 3:5)

I love this part where Moses removes his shoes to be with God. Removing one's shoes, in many cultures, is a sign of respect and, sometimes, of intimacy. I think it also shows a deep connection to the world God has created.The Hebrew word for Adam means "son of red earth" and is derived from the Hebrew word adamah meaning "ground." From the ground we were created and to the ground we will return.

Stephen Beverly discusses In A Barefoot Encounter with God how Moses is asked to remove his sandals so that he may better connect to the holy ground he is standing on.  Moses turns from the sheep he is tending and stands barefoot, fully present and listening to the Lord. Beverly says:

God’s incredible invitation for Moses to experience God’s holiness in a truly visceral way is the same invitation God gives to us. It is this barefoot, no-barrier connection with God’s holiness that sustains each of us...

Meister Eckhart, a medieval mystic, spoke of  "ground" as a metaphor for understanding the depths of God's presence in our lives. In a meditation entitled  God Is the Ground of Our Being, James Finley explains Eckhart's teaching:

The ground of God is the deepest depths of God. And in the generosity of God, the deepest depths of God are given to us as the deepest depths of ourselves, in our nothingness without God. Our ground and God’s ground is one ground. And hidden down in the depths of ourselves is a union that’s already present, waiting to be realized, lived, and shared... there’s this hidden, unfelt, deep, abyss-like center in which we’re being unexplainably sustained in the midst of [all] circumstances. 

Eckhart says we need to detach from whatever is hindering us to attach to what is truly substantial, to the God who dwells in our deepest depths and is sustaining us every day. 

Take off your shoes and become aware of the presence of the Lord. Everywhere I stand, God is there. Amen.