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Christian Pilgrimage
I’ve been thinking about this word lately, as it’s occurred to me that there are many forms of pilgrimage, and some of them are not what we thought they’d be, or expected. I see people every day on three kinds of pilgrimages: of their own choosing; of their own making; and which seem to have come over them like a dark cloud out of the blue. Let’s look at an example of each. First, “of their own choosing”: let’s grant that whatever we may each believe about the complexities of free will, in our conscious daily lives we exercise choice.
Years ago I knew I could choose to be a pastoral counselor, and in fact I did make that choice. It’s been a pilgrimage of learning, spiritual development, excitement, disappointment, challenge. What makes a pilgrimage out of my career choice is a theme that was always there, no matter how imperfectly I showed it: Love. First of God; then of my many colleagues and clients over the years. But it wasn’t there all at once – no, in fact I didn’t even see that I was on a pilgrimage of learning how to Love (God’s way) until a few years ago. Next: of their own making: I know someone who is on a financial pilgrimage he never dreamed he’d be on. It’s not the one he chose, but he’s on it by his own doing. He’s going down fast, because he over-rode his own instincts and made some investments he knew were beyond his risk tolerance and resources – and they failed.
What makes this a pilgrimage? His response to it. It didn’t stop him in the depths of his being. He chose to learn from his mistakes and go on. He chose to see this experience, which will take months or years to get through, as a gift from God. Yes, he’s suffering, his family is suffering, and he’s lost some ‘friends’. Yet he knows he’s drawn closer to God throughout, as has his family. Finally: the dark cloud pilgrimage. A person has done everything they can think of, and done it well and in a Godly fashion. Life looks pretty good in that person’s eyes. Then something happens, unexpectedly: a category 5 hurricane drops in for a visit, and leaves behind…nothing. A young woman loses everything except her young children. She didn’t ask for this, didn’t cause it, but her pilgrimage begins when she chooses to endure all it means in terms of loss and crisis and opportunity, and go on with the same type of Godly life she had been building before the hurricane. Notice the italicized words: learning, love, response, drawn closer to God, chooses. That’s what can make a life circumstance a pilgrimage. When we notice what God places before us by choosing to respond, love, learn, and draw closer to Him, a pilgrimage has begun. By nature it’s a journey into the unknown, so we may be anxious and unsure –but firmly set on drawing closer to God, we will be rewarded in His way and in His time.
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Contributor's Note
Wellness for every part of you!
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May, 2012
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