As we read through Genesis this summer in our liturgies, one thing that stands out is the many places that are named. Abraham leaves Ur, Abraham negotiates with God about Sodom, Sarah is buried at Ephron, Jacob dreams at Bethel, just to name a few. Many of the places named in Genesis are given their names by one of the characters in the story after he/she has had an encounter with God in that place. It is sacred ground and it is important to name the place where God has revealed God's self to people.

Many times this revelation takes the form of a struggle; a struggle on the part of the human to understand the call of God and to respond to that call. It is a struggle to see life and all of creation as sacred – as a place of importance because it can be where God and we meet. It is sacred ground and we can choose to hallow it or destroy it.

These places in Genesis and elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures come to represent places of exile and places of return to home – places of being separated from God and places of return to harmony and unity with God. Babylon becomes synonymous with exile, the Jordan River with homecoming. They mark the history of alienation and reconciliation. They are Sacred Ground.

Sacred Ground is the name given to the small group study we offer at the Fig in which we consider the history of race and racism in our country. This small group study is based on the principle that all life is holy and we, because of our sins and failures, have too often not seen the sacredness of the places and the people with whom we live.

Sacred Ground considers the experience of people who have come to, or been brought, to this sacred ground that we call America. It examines the ways in which some people have been rejected, marginalized, and abused – where we have forgotten to see all life as being of God and therefore, sacred. Sacred Ground opens up the history of race and racism in America and helps each participant acknowledge their place in the story.

The study includes film and reading materials the participants view on their own time. Then, coming together in a small group, members share their responses to the work they have done. Group members walk together back through history in order to peel away the layers that brought us to today, reflecting on family histories and stories, as well as important narratives that shape the collective American story.

Sacred Ground holds as a guiding star the vision of the beloved community – where all people are honored and protected and nurtured as beloved children of God, where we weep at one another's pain and seek one another's flourishing: where all ground is named as places where God reveals God's self to people.

On Sunday August 12, during the Formation hour between services, there will be a Sacred Ground information class and an opportunity to register for a group. Please come and learn more about this life changing opportunity.