by Lilly Lewin
I believe in the practice of pilgrimage. Taking time out of our regular life to go on a journey of discovery with God. In the practice of pilgrimage, I have taken students to Holy Island, climbed Crough Patrick in Ireland with my family, visited the Red Light district in Amsterdam, walked the beaches of Normandy, and lived in community on Iona for a week. The Red Light district was one of those gifts of Pilgrimage where the Holy Spirit takes you somewhere you didn’t expect. Our air bnb happened to be right in the middle of everything and this led to some great discussion about where Jesus would go and love people if he were in Amsterdam. Pilgrimages have taught me to think as a pilgrim in my regular life too. They have taught me to take time to notice what God is doing around me and to see interruptions as gifts rather than a curse.
Why a pilgrimage?
For centuries faithful men and women have journeyed together to sacred places.
Think back to Abraham and Sarah going to the promised-land (Genesis 12:1), or the children of Israel going up to Jerusalem every year to worship (songs of ascents in the psalms) and perhaps you remember the colorful pilgrims in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales from English class. Today people still go on pilgrimage. Some go to Jerusalem to walk the places where Jesus walked and to see where the events of the Bible took place. And young people from all over the world journey to Taize, in France to sing and pray together and live in community. Others walk the Way of St. James in Spain to Santiago de Compostela, known as the Camino.
And I just followed along with Will Parsons as he traveled the Old Way along the southern coast of England where he is reopening an ancient pilgrim trail that I would love to walk someday soon. https://www.facebook.com/pilgrimtrust/?timeline_context_item_type=intro_card_work&timeline_context_item_source=100004325043985
These modern pilgrims seek to connect with God. They are journeying to “thin places” where heaven and earth seem to touch and where they can experience God and feel God’s presence. God speaks to us in the thinplaces of life, along the edges where life is less busy, less noisy and when we are less pre-occupied with the worries of everyday life. God speaks to us in community, because we need each other to grow and expand and process our faith. All of these things can happen on pilgrimage. We too can grow on and in our journey of faith by practicing pilgrimage!
On pilgrimage we can live this out eating together, living together, learning together, traveling together. On pilgrimage, everyone participates. No one just gets to observe. The leaders and participants are all pilgrims. Leaders act as spiritual directors and curators of the experience, but they don’t just direct things. The leader is a pilgrim and is able to engage God and process too.
The Mindset of a Pilgrim.
As pilgrims, we are NOT tourists, we are not just on a trip to see sights, but we are there to be present and learn.
As pilgrims, we are open to new things, new people, new experiences and new places.
Each person that one meets on pilgrimage is a gift, from the crying baby, to the bus driver, to the person you stand behind in line. And even interruptions are seen as opportunities to see God at work. We ask, “What is God showing us and teaching us through this?” As pilgrims, we are on a journey directed by the Holy Spirit and it may not always turn out as we’ve planned! Like standing up on a train from London to Newcastle because you didn’t have the right tickets! You have to ask, “What is the Gift in this Jesus?”
Pilgrimage gets us out of our comfort zones and our regular routines. And it helps us establish habits and practices that can carry our relationship with Jesus beyond the bounds of a church or youth group.
What do you do on a pilgrimage?
A pilgrimage Includes daily times of reflection and prayer. This might include praying the daily office together or a morning prayer time and an evening compline.
We Journey together to a new place.
Pilgrims Live and work in community.
Practice silence.
Practice listening.
Teach and learn from each other.
We have a question to ponder.
Sometimes, we have a saint (or famous Christian ) to travel with and learn about along the way.
There is time to process and ask questions about what we’ve learned as we travel.
There is time for Biblical reflection.
There is time to Rest and just Be with God.
And we take time to learn from the pilgrims who have gone before us.
Pilgrims have an opportunity to meet God on their own…on pilgrimage we ‘create space” to meet with God.
You don’t have to go out of the country to go on pilgrimage, you can go on pilgrimage in your own state and even in your own town.
A mini pilgrimage might include a day trip around your city…praying for the people you see along the way…praying over the police station, the city hall, the fire department, the hospital, buying lunch for a homeless person and listening to his/her story. Worshipping with another congregation in a different flavor.
A local pilgrimage might be Hiking in silence along a trail while pondering a passage of scripture and discussing it at a certain point along the way, processing it together, having time to journal on your own and hiking back out in silence. And processing the experience …
You also might consider a pilgrimage to a “Holy Place” near you…places where God has been worshiped for decades in and around your city/town.
Or you might consider a Civil Rights Pilgrimage learning about the fight for justice in the South our even in your own community.
You can do
Pilgrimage in your neighborhood
Pilgrimage in your city
Pilgrimage in the states
Pilgrimage out of the country
It just means you put on your pilgrim shoes to walk where God takes you and use your pilgrim eyes to notice what God is doing around you! Using Pilgrim ears, taking time to listen to the stories, learn from the people you meet, praying for opportunities and being aware of the Gift when the Holy Spirit interrupts you!
Remember that Jesus was a pilgrim. He wandered around the holy land for three years.
There was a lot of wandering around in the Bible…Abraham, was on a journey to a land that God had promised him…
Moses journeyed around with a bunch of rebellious Israelites for 40years…on a way the way to the promise land.
We too are pilgrims on the way, on a journey with Jesus. We travel together to grow and
“if Jesus is present and actively forming you through your relationship with him, this will take you somewhere!” (sadly I cannot remember who said this!)
Take some time to consider the Practice of Pilgrimage. Where could you go? Who would you want to go with you on your journey? And I will keep you posted on my own. I’m working on plan to lead one to the UK next year the Lord willing!
By John Birch from “Ripples” —
Release the gifts within us, Lord
that through fear or hesitation
we have yet to acknowledge or use,
that we might become the Church
you always wanted us to be,
a listening, caring, creative people,
a healing, giving and praying people
filled with the Spirit of love and grace,
your living body here in this place.
“It has always been my delight to learn or to teach or to write.” -Bede
Don’t we love it when we discover our calling and can name what it is that we really like to do in God’s kingdom? St. Paul talks about how we are all given gifts by the Spirit to produce the body of Christ that is whole and complete.
As a youth I desperately desired to be a magnificent singer so that I could sing solos in church. Yet, that desire to sing like an angel was never fulfilled. Instead, I discovered over time that my delight, like Bede was in learning and writing. Instead of singing solos in the pulpit at church, I am a pastor, preacher, and writer with a passion for the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon saints. Yet, I did not fully grasp this gift until I was in my forties.
The Venerable Bede was truly an interesting early 8th century fellow and a renaissance man of sorts. He tells us in his famous Ecclesiastical History of the English People that he was sent to the newly founded Jarrow Abbey in northeast England when he was seven years old. Bede describes how the plague decimated Jarrow and that only the Abbot Ceolfrith and a young boy (likely himself) survived the plague.
I first encountered Bede through an early Celtic/Anglo-Saxon religious leader that he greatly admired and wrote about in his History, St. Hilda of Whitby. Hilda was the Abbess and founder of numerous double monasteries in northern England in which men and women both lived and served under her leadership.
To compose his famous History, Bede used numerous written biographies that he must have had available at the large library at Jarrow. His Bishop, Benedict Biscop had purchased in several extended buying tours to Rome, numerous religious relics, paintings, and books to adorn his new abbeys and their libraries.
Bede also interviewed those who lived through the foundational years of early Anglo-Saxon England. One of Hilda’s five students that became Bishops of England, was St. John of Beverley who ordained Bede as a deacon and later as a priest. It is quite likely that John provided Bede with much detail on Hilda’s life. Another person Bede likely interviewed was the historian Adomnán, who was also the 9th Abbot of Iona and the biographer of St. Columba. Adomnan visited the abbot Ceolfrith when Bede was a youth.
Historians throughout the last 1300 years have been grateful for Bede’s love of writing and his desire to make sure that his history was correct. Bede not only wrote his History, but also he wrote books of poetry, hymns, lives of the saints including the Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow, and even scientific treatises. A list of all of his writings can be found at
Bede was also known for teaching the younger monks at Jarrow Abbey.
Bede lived in the Wearmouth-Jarrow twin monasteries until he was about sixty-two years old. That’s a long time to live with the same gender in the same place. It is said that even though he had a difficult time breathing and that his feet swelled, he dictated to a scribe his remaining thoughts. The last thing he did was take his little box of the only treasures he possessed in his life and gave away his tiny bit of pepper, napkins, and some incense.
Bede was first buried at Jarrow Abbey and later his remains were translated (moved) to share the same shrine with St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne in Durham Cathedral. In 1370, his remains were moved one again to his own shrine area in the Galilee Chapel in Durham Cathedral and can still be seen there.
To the end of his life, Bede still so delighted in writing that he was insistent in having a scribe write down his ideas when he no longer had the strength to sit up or hold a quill pen. 1300 years later, Bede still is a teacher as we read his writings and we learn from him.
How are we using our abilities, training, creativity, passions, and inner giftedness to bless God, our family, our neighbor, and perhaps as with the life of Bede, many future generations of learners and seekers after God? Like Bede, may we discover our delight and begin to master this gift that has been given to us through the Spirit of our Living God. Your gift and your calling is needed to make planet earth a better place to live.
Rev. Brenda G. Warren is an ordained Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) pastor and former theological and public library director. She writes about the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon saints on her Celtic 40 days of Advent (Celts to the Crèche) website, www.saintsbridge.org
What do you see in the clay
that might arise out of your moulding,
or in the tree’s wood
alive again
in your hands.
What might you carve,
with a knife and chisel,
and the movements
of a wrist charged
with light.
What words might your pen speak,
if you gave up ownership
of the outcome,
and followed the shapes
ink can make.
What colours or patterns,
might your brush form
on a canvas blank
and waiting
for your mark.
What relationships,
vocations or gifts might be present,
awaiting the
courage to grow
and flourish.
What work might bring
a benefit to all who
drink from the well
of your heart’s
inner springs.
What bird might
be held behind bars,
or river needing a dam of stones
unrolled
to pour forth.
What indeed,
have you caught up inside you,
that yet needs a nudge
to escape
its confines.
Watch how
an over-burden of snow
will gather speed,
as it falls
to become an avalanche.
There are two ways of creating.
Intention, or surrender to the flow.
Neither are wrong.
The only regret may ever be,
in not attempting.
This prayer was originally from Christine in 2013 for US Independence Day, the 4th of July —
God bless America and all the nations of the earth.
Bless us with freedom,
That none may be oppressed on unjustly treated.
Bless us with prosperity,
That all peoples might share abundantly from the produce of the earth.
God bless us with responsibility,
That we might properly steward your good creation.
Bless us with generosity,
That the barriers between the haves and the have nots may be broken down.
Bless us with caring,
That we might reach out with love and compassion to neighbours everywhere.
Bless us with faith,
That we might believe you are creating a new heaven and a new earth,
Where you will once more dwell in our midst,
Wiping away our tears, overcoming death and sorrow and pain.
Bless us with the eternal life of your kingdom,
Where together with all the peoples of the earth,
We will dwell together in peace and harmony and love.
Amen
By Jenneth Graser—
I bless you with the major rivers of the earth
to run through your veins,
the Ganges, Yangtze, Mississippi.
I bless you with a flow of great waters
upon the canyons of your inspiration.
I bless all of your latent ideas to materialise
from out of your DNA.
I bless the story abiding deep within
the crevasse of the moment,
to be discovered, your hand on paper.
I bless you with a deluge rushing
in to fill your Okavango
and for wandering pilgrims to fall into
the oasis of your words.
I bless your voice to be heard from
the utmost heights of Mt Everest, Annapurna, Kilimanjaro.
I bless you with a blank page, a pen in your grip,
taken by the current of your dreams,
realising your own personal power,
disappointment swept away by the
mighty resilience of you, coming to life
in this place, being born upon a time and season
that has been waiting so long
to receive this epiphany:
your words arterial
channelling from out of your soul
straight into a sea of hearts, torrential.
by Christine Sine
I was recently asked to write the forward for a book of poems by Godspace author Jenneth Graser. I have never met Jenneth Grazer. I live half a world away from her, yet I find that her poetry reaches out across the miles to touch my soul.
Like Jenneth I have discovered the beauty and the joy of translating my thoughts and emotions into written prayers and poems. Like her I have found that the writing of such prayers and poems helps me to slow down, breathe deeply and take notice of the voice of God bubbling up from deep within me. Much to my surprise I find that poetry like this is a powerful force that can transform not only my own life but also the lives of others who read them and allow them to resonate in their hearts.
I am not alone in my discovery as the blossoming of poetry on Godspace shows. Many of us are discovering that writing and reading poetry stir all our senses in profound and enriching ways.
Poetry is Not Just Words.
Poetry is not just about words. Sometimes we begin with a word. At other times it is a thought or an image that resonates in our minds. It calls to us, perhaps out of the depths of our pain, or through flashes of intense joy and awe inspiring wonder. The image grows and takes shape emerging into words that burst out of our mouths. We recite them aloud, sensing the vibrations not just in our ears but also in our hearts and minds. They pluck at our heartstrings and slowly we craft them into a cascade of verses that brings healing and refreshment in mind, soul and body.
The Bible is full of poetic images like this that pull at our heartstrings and beckon us to listen to the voice of God, healing and cleansing our spirits on the way. Yet sometimes we feel that these ancient books cannot fully express what is bubbling up within us. Spoken prayers and words of adoration and praise don’t seem to do it either. We need the language of modern poetry that enables us to interpret the pain and the joy of life in our own unique and expressive way.
Poetry Helps Us Express Our Emotions
There are a number of reasons why poetry is particularly suited to the expressing of our emotions. First, emotional undertones are hard to put into words. The metaphor and imagery that takes shape in a poem often helps us give voice to them. Second, the use of poetic rhythm taps into powerful nonverbal responses, in much the same way that music does. Even the abstract nature of poetry is a powerful tool that makes it easier to take a closer look at painful experiences which can be threatening to us if we try to approach them in a direct manner.
Poetry Is A Powerful Focusing Tool
Canvas print on my prayer altar
My prayer poems are an integral part of my daily devotions. I have written many of them on cards with one of my photos in the background. I carry them with me as I travel and pull them out throughout the day to refocus my world on God. Some have become canvas prints that sit on my prayer altar and provide a focus each morning for my thoughts and worship of God. This practice has greatly enriched my life and drawn me closer to God in special and unexpected ways.
What Is Your Response?
You may not feel inclined to write poetry. Perhaps you prefer music or the painting of images. Or it might be sculpture or leatherwork or the creation of gardening that resonates in your soul in the same way that poetry does for many of us. For some it is cooking or even creating mathematical patterns and symbols can be therapeutic.
We live in a world that is full of pain and heartache and all of us need tools that help us process this pain. You may not like to write poetry as I do but I am sure that God has given you some form of creative expression that carries the same power. Sit prayerful for a few minutes. What form of creative expression comes to mind as an avenue through which you express your emotions and process your pain.
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