Dirty-Footed Freedom

It was day two of the Wild Goose Festival, a kind of Woodstock for the spiritual crowd. I’d retired my soggy, mud-caked sandals from day one, and set out in a clean, dry, muck-free pair. As I stepped from the solid asphalt onto the puddle-ridden festival terrain, I made a mental note to watch where I stepped lest I end up like I had yesterday. That is to say, a dirt-streaked ragamuffin from the knee down.

But as I walked down the main promenade—the widest of the sodden paths used to traverse the wooded weekend home of peace-loving folks of every persuasion—I found that I couldn’t watch my step and greet the strangers-who-might-become-friends who were passing by. I couldn’t watch my step and stop to ask about the missions of organizations lining both sides of this thoroughfare. I couldn’t watch my step and be fully present to the unleashed spirit that defines the Wild Goose Festival.

So I made a choice. I stopped watching my step. I refrained from looking where I was going and, instead, let the festival happen to me. Stepping in a few mud puddles may not seem like a very big deal. But surrendering my desire to stay clean and untainted in the midst of the messiest mixture of spirit, justice, music and art that God ever cooked up was a big deal.

Because I wasn’t watchdogging my feet, they carried me to visit with women who were trying to make it easier to find churches across the country that were gay and lesbian friendly. They carried me back to the book tent to sign a book for a woman who’d attended my session the day before. And they walked me smack dab into a reunion with friends I hadn’t seen in ten years.

These were people I was meant to connect with that day—part of God’s plan for my little bitty role in the Wild Goose Festival. And I would have missed them all if I’d chosen to worry about getting my feet dirty. If I’d watched my step instead of walking my path.

Today, as we celebrate the unbounded freedoms we enjoy, let us remember that just because we have the freedom to keep our feet clean, doesn’t mean we should. The theme of this year’s festival was Living Liberation, and it occurs to me that sometimes we need to liberate ourselves from our own limiting ways in order to experience God’s expansive ones—even if it means getting our feet dirty.

What might you be missing by trying to avoid the messy, muddy parts of life? What joys have you discovered when you let yourself get mired in its turbidity?


The 4th annual Wild Goose Festival happened June 26­29 in Hot Springs, just north of Asheville in the mountains of Western North Carolina. A gathering at the intersection of justice, spirituality, music and the arts, the four­day event featured 75+ discussions, conversations, and explorations from provocative speakers and performances by dozens of musicians and artists. Visit their site for reflections on the 2014 festival and for news on the 2015 event as it nears.