Pilgrim Tales

What is it about pilgrimage that draws us? Or draws me, at least? It has been a constant theme as I prepare for ministry. When I could no longer ignore my call and no longer find excuses, I decided to go on pilgrimage. In the ancient cathedrals and wind swept shores of northern England, I found without a doubt that I was called by God to ministry. In every carving and every call of the wild geese, I felt a fire burn in my bones I could no longer ignore. So I came back, finished school with no little difficulty, entered the Episcopal process for priesthood, moved across country, and entered seminary. Then, as seminary both deepened my knowledge and increased my questioning, I again was drawn back to the pilgrim way. From Boston toward a monastic house up north, I walked with members of the outdoor church I was ministering with. There, I did not hear any voices or feel the power of my first pilgrimage. I only felt, as I walked with people I loved, that I was in the exact place in the universe I was meant to be. I had no doubt I was called, not only to the thin places, but to the so called hard places. Only, working on the street didn’t seem hard to me—though it was heartbreaking—because it was also full of abundant joy.

In our time of upheaval and change, when everything seems to be in flux, pilgrimage and wandering are apt metaphors. In large numbers, people are moving from the global south north looking for work. More and more people are unemployed or underemployed, living from couch to couch or under bridges and in cars. People are on the move, searching and wandering and trying to survive.

I have done my share of wandering. I grew up in a stable, working class home, though not without its difficulties, but life since then has involved much wandering, as I search for home, for education, for ministry. But I have never experienced the terror and trauma of forced homelessness or crossing borders. As I work alongside people who have, they tell me how important the idea of pilgrimage is to them. I think of pilgrimage as a search for the divine and a search for our deepest selves. It is taking the time away from the hustle and bustle of mainstream society to listen. People who have wandered far and often know deeply what this means. And there is a dignity in being called pilgrims. Not “homeless” or “hobo” or “transient.” But pilgrim. Perhaps, for me, pilgrimage is a way of expressing solidarity with those who have nowhere to lay their heads.