“To come to ground is to find a home in circumstances, and in the very physical body we inhabit in the midst of those circumstances, and above all to face the truth, no matter how difficult that truth may be; to come to ground is to begin the courageous conversation, to step into difficulty, and, by taking that first step, begin the movement through all difficulties, to find the support and foundation that has been beneath our feet all along; a place to step onto, a place on which to stand, and a place from which to step.”
“You’re grounded” is not a term any child wants to hear from the lips of a parent. In such a case, being grounded is a restriction, a form of punishment, a limit to the activity one is allowed. To be grounded is to have one’s freedom taken away – it is to be restrained and constrained. Whether as a child or an adult, most of us instinctively chafe against having our liberty limited.
In the above quote, poet David Whyte refers to ‘ground’ not as confinement, but as freedom. For him, being grounded is the starting point for moving forward; it is a place from which to launch our lives. When we are not grounded, we live on “shaky ground,” unsettled, unstable, unsure of who we are, what to do, or where to go.
Theologian Paul Tillich is credited with coining the phrase “ground of being” in reference to God. I think it fair to say that most of us were taught that God is a Supreme Being, one who is above and beyond everyday reality, one to whom we direct our prayers in the hope of changing life’s circumstances when they are not to our liking. I believe that both Whyte and Tillich would agree that a more spiritually evolved understanding of the Divine would be one that is grounded in the ground of our lives – a dynamic reality that is here as well as there (heaven), a part of, not apart from who we are.
It has been said that God protects us from nothing, but sustains us in all things. When Whyte talks about finding the “support and foundation that has been beneath our feet all along,” he invites us to turn our gaze from the heavens to the “humus,” that is to our earthy, humble humanity wherein a sustaining, liberating, godly presence is one with us, and where we can discover who we are, what to do and where to go with our lives. This spiritual ground is truly “a place to step onto, a place on which to stand, and a place from which to step,” a sacred place from which to live.
Attuned to Soul 