Pilgrimage

   "Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as He went, always pressing on toward Jerusalem." Luke 13:21

  'Pilgrimage' is often used to describe an individual's journey through life, sometimes as a general description of personal growth and exploration, sometimes, as in Christianity, outlining a particular spiritual focus or pathway which it is believed will lead to encounters with God. york.ac.au

  The third attempt at writing a small booklet as an introduction to the Art of Prayer has been successful. Trying to use the blog posts as a starting off point ended because the posts contained too much irrelevant information. I tried tackling it the old fashioned way with pen and paper but all the ideas meant I couldn't write fast enough!

  To be honest, I had no idea how to organize the whole thing.

  God is so good! He allowed me to wrestle with the booklet on my own because He knew I'd eventually smarten up and ask for His help. Sometimes I can be about as much fun as a toddler wanting to do up their own coat zipper!

  My friend helped polish it off by adding some pictures and playing around with fonts. I am pleased with the end result.

  There's an introduction, followed by a brief essay on the Spiritual Practices involved in praying through art. The next bit talks about creating a Sacred Space to do the art and what that means. It wraps up with suggestions for what sort of materials would be handy then closes off with a simple art exercise. The hardest part was writing a brief bio "about the author."

  As I was going to bed last night, the idea of pilgrimage leapt up out of nowhere...Smile...well not nowhere. I wondered if I needed to add another page to the booklet. Maybe it's not finished yet.

  It did get me thinking.

  Pilgrimage is a spiritual practice we often forget about. I realized I had only thought of going on a pilgrimage as taking a trip to Jerusalem to walk where Jesus had walked. That's way beyond my bank account.

  I thought about people who are housebound or who had physical disabilities. How on earth would they get to Jerusalem? How on  earth could they ever experience what a pilgrimage is?

  So what is it?

  Like the definition says, it's making a journey towards something Holy, like a city, or like Jesus. In the time spent on the road, there is both time and opportunity to reflect on why the journey is important. It's having time to open our hearts and minds to the joy of what lay ahead. I can only imagine the Disciples excitement as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey.

  I suppose the Disciples had an easier time of it because they walked everywhere. Having cars sure cuts down on prep time!

  Then I realized a pilgrimage can happen without leaving my house.

  The act of clearing off the table, making sure the Bible is near, getting my laptop out of the desk, of making a coffee, of powering up the machine, of pulling back the chair, sitting down and finally writing is a pilgrimage whose destination is Jesus. I go through this routine each time I write. 

  Change the laptop to art supplies, it's the same thing: a mini journey where I arrive at my Sacred Space, my Jerusalem, aka the kitchen table. 

  Unless toddler me decides to take over! But that was it's own pilgrimage, wasn't it? Nevertheless, these steps, these ritualistic preparations are crucial in unlocking both creativity and receptiveness. It helps me change gears which basically means leaving the minutia of daily life behind.

  That's all a pilgrimage is: a leaving behind and a moving forward at the same time. 

   When the day's writing or art has been fraught with emotion I leave it in God's hands because that was the whole purpose behind the day's journey. Having something tangible, like a painting, makes it that much easier because I can physically put it away.

  There's healing in being able to do this. There's often closure. There's often another layer that needs exploration. Smile. I just realized, my kitchen table sized Jerusalem is where the journey actually begins.