Holy Ground

"Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Exodus 3:5

My parents never enforced a “no shoes in the house” rule, but I do recall the households that did.

Grammy had a shoe rule even though Grampy ignored it. She had rules for just about everything: no eating in the living room, no sitting on the bare furniture, and no putting your feet up on the couch. This baffled me because plastic covered everything from chairs to lamp shades. Why, the rugs were even covered by plastic runners! With all that plastic, the shoe rule seemed unnecessary. Maybe Grampy thought so, too.


My aunt has a shoe rule. She greets you with, "Hi there. Take your shoes off and c'mon in." Her house is more inviting with the absence of plastic.


Most Eastern countries like Japan, Korea, Turkey and Sweden, hold fast to a shoe rule. In these countries, besides the practical means of keeping the house dirt and bacteria-free, going shoeless is a gesture of respect and politeness.

God had a shoe rule...

(Won't you tip-toe over to Encouragement Cafe and linger awhile? At least long enough to hear the rest of the story?)