On Pilgrimage
This post was originally a newsletter article on the occasion of our Stewardship Ingathering.
“always on a pilgrimage comes a change of mind or a change of heart”
— A Celtic Pilgrimage with John O’Donohue
The theme of our stewardship campaign for this year, which comes to a formal close this week, is “Together on Pilgrimage.” Our committee wisely pointed out that while we are working towards regathering, our progress has been slower than many of us would like. Even when we gather together in the sanctuary on Sunday, there will be those who are not able to be there. We are still living with restrictions we had hoped to dispense with. This fall feels less like finally entering the Promised Land and more like a continuing journey which we cannot control or predict, which is why the theme of pilgrimage was chosen to represent where we are in our community life.
What is meant by pilgrimage? It’s a familiar concept to many of us, but often in the way of something one takes for granted but couldn’t necessarily define. Simply put, a pilgrimage is a journey undertaken with the specific intention of greater knowledge and awareness of oneself, the world, higher good, or the divine. It may be to a foreign place, but needn’t be.
A pilgrim is focused not on their own comfort but on the experience of the world and all that is sacred in it. A pilgrim is vulnerable, open to being transformed by the experience, whether by the beauty of their surroundings, the rituals of the pilgrimage, or the wisdom of fellow pilgrims. Pilgrims are open to what Virginia Woolf calls “moments of being.”
Pilgrimage is nearly as old as Christianity. It began, as far as we know, with people journeying to the Holy Land to see for themselves the places where Jesus walked. Over time, Christian pilgrimage grew to include other holy sites, places associated with saints or heavy with the weight of church history. The most famous pilgrimage route in Western Christendom is probably the Santiago de Compostela in Spain, but there are pilgrimage routes in the United Kingdom, in France, in South and Central America, in Mexico, and here in the United States. For thousands of years, thousands of people have journeyed together to and from holy sites in search of a new understanding of God and of themselves.
Of course, pilgrimage is not the sole purview of Christianity; the Hajj, pilgrimage to Mecca, is one of the Pillars of Islam. There is a rich tradition of pilgrimage in Hinduism and Buddhism as well. Pilgrimage is for anyone who is willing to open themselves to the sacredness of the world. \
There are so many spiritual practices which turn something ordinary (bread, wine) into something sacred (Body, Blood). Pilgrimage is one of these; it takes travel, something we all must do to a greater or lesser degree, and makes it holy. But what distinguishes pilgrimage from travel? It isn’t the destination. It is perfectly possible to visit Chimayó, St Peter’s Basilica, Jerusalem, the Ganges, or Mecca, and be nothing more than a tourist. It isn’t some kind of perfection; pilgrimage continues in rain or shine, as slowly as necessary. What makes pilgrimage sacramental is the openness of the practitioner. God is present everywhere. It is our task to notice.
Pilgrimage is also fundamentally communal. Even if you start out on pilgrimage alone, you will meet others on the pilgrim way. For anyone who has gone on pilgrimage to one of our holiest sites, or walked an established pilgrimage route, this will be no surprise. For centuries, pilgrims have traveled together for safety and for community. The bonds formed on the pilgrimage routes may be more impactful than even the holy site. On the Way, you might meet anyone, and find kinship with them. There is nothing quite like traveling with those who share a common purpose, and the relationships that form on such journeys can be transformational, even if they are fleeting.
In our culture, there is a tendency to personalize everything; we are told to focus on self-care, self-development, self-understanding. There is a loud portion of American Christianity that is focused almost entirely on a personal relationship with God. There is nothing innately wrong with any of these things. Sometimes, though, this personalization can be isolating. We can feel like islands unto ourselves, which is lonely and even alienating.
For many of us, this time in our lives has contributed to these feelings. For some, enforced separation has been an opportunity, but for others it’s been nothing but a source of pain and loneliness. I’ve experienced a nourishing return to some of my more time-consuming spiritual practices, but I’ve also felt distanced from my fellow human beings. I have relished the times I’ve been able to connect– either virtually or in person– in a real way with people. Humans are, after all, social creatures. We aren’t meant to journey alone.
It is helpful to me to remind myself that we are all pilgrims together. We are all on the same journey, even if we are taking different routes, or are at different places on the Way. As a community, we set out together, but we may not all arrive together. There are some we have lost on the way. There are some who feel lost and alone, and need loving companionship to keep walking.
It is all of our task to continue as pilgrims, attentive to our surroundings, and the everyday holiness of the walk. We can all seek the sacred with every step. It is also the call of every pilgrim to attend to those with us on the Way, to welcome them to walk beside us, help them when they stumble, and above all to see Christ in them.
As we prepare for Fr. Bruce’s return, and our return to our sanctuary, it might be tempting to see this as the end of our pilgrimage. However, pilgrimage is never only about the destination. Even if you reach Jerusalem, you still need to journey home. For us, home isn’t a building; it is our promised union with Christ and all the faithful.