Pilgrims are persons in motion - passing through territories not their own - seeking something we might call completion, or perhaps the word clarity will do as well, a goal to which only the spirit's compass points the way. Those who pass over thresholds aware of their need to be changed. Listening to this counsel, we recall Merton's meditation that in us God wanders as a pilgrim too.
Richard R. Niebuhr, Parabola Magazine, Volume IX, Number 3 - Pilgrimage
Wandering through the wilderness ... is that what pilgrimage is about? Taking on the ritual and rites of those who have passed through these territories before? Finding oneself in new, creative, perhaps challenging places?
I believe that pilgrimage is about going deeper into the trust and truth of the Ineffable One. Finding our leading edge that connects with that Power. Learning to feel the depth of our link to God/Spirit/the Universe/Goddess.
Merton's meditation about God wandering in us as a pilgrim fascinates me. My mind is cracked open ever so slightly more because of it. Imagine it: God/Goddess/the Universe/Spirit wandering the world within us as well as amongst us. Breathtaking!
What do you think a pilgrimage is? Where would you choose to go if you had the opportunity to take one?
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