Pilgrimages

I just spent the weekend at Algonquin Park making a pilgrimage of sorts. It was the 100th anniversary of the death of Tom Thomson, one of Canada's foremost painters, whose body was found in the park's Canoe Lake. We paddled out to the cairn memorializing Tom and followed the trail of murals of paintings by Tom and the Group of Seven, artists Tom inspired, re-created by current artists and community members. These are mounted on buildings in Huntsville and other small communities around and in Algonquin Park. 

It was fun to find all of the paintings using the guide book, and one community painting was in progress in the main square of Huntsville and we were invited to pick up a paintbrush and add to it. An upright piano was in the square with another Group of Seven work painted right on it with a stack of stones for the piano bench and the keys inviting to be played. In the same square was a statue of Tom at work next to his canoe. The focus of each painting is celebrating the northern Ontario wilderness and becoming lost in its beauty.

This got me thinking about the many kinds of pilgrimages that have been portrayed in movies and books, like A Walk in the Woods, The Way and Wild. I've seen friends on facebook recount their own holy pilgrimages in Europe, the Camino de Santiago being one route. Other faiths value pilgrimage as well, whether to Mecca or Jerusalem or other places. The Israelites themselves were on a pilgrimage to the land of milk and honey after escaping Egypt. These journeys focus on developing inner strength while dealing with the elements and the unknown, trusting in God's provision and that the rewards will be worth the effort and commitment.

In my own life I've been on short and long pilgrimages, though sometimes they didn't involve geographic distances per se. This summer, I hope you have some down time to reflect on your own journey and all its twists and turns. What pilgrimages have you been on? Where did they lead? What did you learn? Sometimes we choose the challenges, fully informed of what we are getting into, and sometimes we are naive and have no idea what awaits us.

By their nature, pilgrimages involve steps and stages, moving ever closer to the climax, the trail head, the conclusion. We need to keep moving forward, hopefully gleaning along the way what God sets out for us to experience and learn, making us stronger as disciples and those meant to be salt and light for the world. Pilgrimages test our endurance, often forcing us to lean into God and admit our need, and they often bless us by the people we meet who assist us and journey with us. They contain what the Celts would call 'thin spaces', where the veil between earth and the spiritual world is barely there and the holy is palpable.

I pray that this summer you will find yourself on a pilgrimage of some sort. Whether that pilgrimage is the chance to walk a holy route and to join others from around the world on the path, or whether it is a chance to revisit a place of holy reverence for you where God's presence is tangible and renewing and inspiring, or whether it is merely the opportunity to draw a life map of your journey so far and to pray for God's wisdom and insight as you consider the places where you were most challenged, most under-girded by God, most aware of God's blessings and perhaps only now aware of how God was preparing you for the next step.

Pilgrimage is important. It causes us to step away from ordinary routines, to hand over our careful control to God and to see what patterns emerge, what God can tell us when we are out on the trail just putting one foot in front of the other, and where God may be gently nudging us to go in our lives and our spiritual walk. Once we leave the mundane behind, we can start to see with clarity some of our realities and be open to new inspiration and wisdom.

For those in educational ministry, sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees. We can be so caught up in minutiae that we forget the big picture and the well-being of our very souls. I pray that you find the opportunity and the challenge of pilgrimage this summer so that you return to the new season grounded and firm on the foundation of your growing faith. May you be drawn closer to God, reminded of God's care and guidance, and rejuvenated for what is coming next. May God show you each step on the path ahead, and may you bask in God's presence as you take in the vistas offered to you.