Yesterday I had a wonderful conversation with my friend Jamie Noyd. She leads pilgrimages for faculty members who are a part of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and is on IVCF staff. We first met during my years in Cincinnati and last fall, Jamie was a part of our Finding Your Thinplace Pilgrimage to Scotland.
She shared with me this amazing Pilgrim Credo by Father Murray Bodo.
I am not in control.
I am not in a hurry.
I walk in faith and hope.
I greet everyone with peace.
I bring back only what God gives me.
I really need this Credo right now! I need to be reminded that God is in control of all this messy world. I need the reminder to be a person of peace rather than a person of fear or anger. So much in our world is out to divide us and so much of the news is horrific these days with war, genocide, hunger and flooding.
We need the reminder that we walk in faith and hope and God is holding us in God’s great love!
Today I am sitting with this Credo and plan to use it daily going forward this month!
Talking about Pilgrimage always gets me excited. I want to live a pilgrim life not just go on pilgrimages. As a pilgrim, I ask,
What is the Gift God has for me today?
What is God’s invitation?
How does God want to surprise me with God’s love?
As a pilgrim, I also choose to pay attention to the little things that God might use along my way to remind me of God’s love!
This leads me to the Gospel passage for this Sunday.
It’s a familiar story about Blind Bartimaeus.
MARK 10: 46-52 NIV
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road
Mark 10:46-52 The Message
46-48 They spent some time in Jericho. As Jesus was leaving town, trailed by his disciples and a parade of people, a blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, was sitting alongside the road. When he heard that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by, he began to cry out, “Son of David, Jesus! Mercy, have mercy on me!” Many tried to hush him up, but he yelled all the louder, “Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!”
49-50 Jesus stopped in his tracks. “Call him over.”
They called him. “It’s your lucky day! Get up! He’s calling you to come!” Throwing off his coat, he was on his feet at once and came to Jesus.
51 Jesus said, “What can I do for you?”
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
52 “On your way,” said Jesus. “Your faith has saved and healed you.”
In that very instant he recovered his sight and followed Jesus down the road.
What do you notice? What does the Holy Spirit highlight for you?
What if Bartimaeus hadn’t paid attention to who was walking by?
What if he’d chosen not to speak up?
What if he’d given up when the crowd said to be quiet?
He’d have missed the miracle.
Jesus healing blind man by Duccio
If Jesus asked you today, “What do you want from me?” What would you say? Have you thought about it?
How are you feeling blind? Where do you notice blindness in others?
Imagine the first thing you see when your eyes are healed is the face of Jesus. What would that be like?
After he was healed, Bartimaeus doesn’t go back and sit by the road again, he doesn’t go back home. Instead, he follows Jesus on the way…and since he is named, he may have become one of the regular disciples….(In Luke’s gospel there are two blind men, but only one asks for healing! Luke 18:35–43)
How do you want to follow Jesus down the road in the weeks ahead?
Bartimaeus didn’t quit even in the face of people trying to make him stay quiet. We need to remember that God is listening to us and hears our cries even when others try to shut us down.
“When I cry to God in my weakness, God has to come to me. Don’t come to God with your strength. Come to God with your weakness” Richard Rohr
How do you feel about this?
After Jesus heals him, Bartimaeus doesn’t get to be a beggar anymore.
He is forever changed.
He no longer has excuses
He has to choose to be different….He chose to follow Jesus on the pilgrimage of love.
READ the poem by Drew Jackson and notice what speaks to you.
What Do You Want Me to Do for You? (Luke 18:35-43)
By Drew Jackson found in Touch the Heart Poems on the Way
And that is the question.
The quest of life—
Restless searching for this answer.
I want cancer gone
So that it does not steal my mother.
Cancer stole my mother.
What do I want other than her return?
I will return to the question at hand. I will come bak to my restless heart.
I want hearts to grow warm,
Slowly, like my hands after
A cold night walking through my city.
My city, I want it free
Of bodies warming on sidewalk grates/
Or is this what I’m supposed to say?
I want to know
What my heart wants.
WATCH:
Jesus heals Bartimaeus in the Jesus Film
I want to be like Bartimaeus! I want to choose to be different! I don’t want to go sit down again and wallow in fear or self doubt. I don’t want to get caught up in comparison or in criticism. I want to be healed from the US vs THEM mentality of our culture.
Like Bartimaeus, I want to look Jesus in his face, see how much He loves me and choose to be different!
I want to choose to follow Jesus on the pilgrimage of love.
Join me on Finding Your Thinplace Pilgrimage Retreat, Sept 1-9, 2025. We will stay at the St Columba Hotel on Iona and discover our thinplace in a thinplace! Only 8 spots left! Learn more here!
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com