A number of years ago a popular book came out that
was made into a movie, called Eat, Pray, Love. The book
epitomizes the sort of spiritual journeys that are popular in our
culture. They tend to be eclectic journeys, collecting bits and pieces of
this and that along the way to add to one's collection of spiritual experience.
St. Bonaventure, a thirteenth century Franciscan,
wrote a book called The Soul’s Journey into God. For
Bonaventure, pilgrimage is much more than one's personal wanderings in the
realm of spirituality or simply a journey of self-discovery. It is a
journey toward a personal and loving God in whom we find our truest
life. To be a true pilgrim is to embark deliberately on a journey into God.
In the Middle Ages pilgrimage was common and the main destinations were Rome, Santiago de Compostela and Canterbury. Pilgrimages were taken for the purpose of receiving a particular grace from God. Maybe one was seeking healing, deeper faith or forgiveness. One embarked on the journey to seek something from God. Before we embark on pilgrimage we too might ask, "What am I seeking from God?"
Embarking on pilgrimage necessitates some
preparation. It means that one must decide what to take and what to leave
behind. In the Middle Ages going on a pilgrimage meant leaving everything
behind except the clothes on your back and maybe a purse of coins to get you to
your destination. Although the modern pilgrim usually travels with much more
than that, there are also things to leave behind. Pilgrimage invites us to
leave behind the daily concerns of our busy lives that often distract us from
noticing the beauty of God's presence in all things. The saints we meet on pilgrimage are people who left everything behind to follow Jesus. For them there was no sense of deprivation or loss. They were joyful people because what they had found was so much more precious than what they gave up. They truly understood the parable of the pearl of great price—selling everything they had for that one pearl.
Christian pilgrimage takes us beyond a personal journey of self-discovery. It is about learning from the saints about the soul's journey into God, discovering for ourselves what is the pearl of great price. Pilgrimage is a movement out of our selves and into God. When the pilgrimage is over, if we have truly engaged in the inner and outer journeys, we discover that as we return home we are changed people. We have experienced transformation in some way that then moves us out into the world to love and serve in a deeper way.
What might one bring home from a pilgrimage besides store-bought remembrances, and photographs? God touches each of our lives in very particular ways, just where we need it. By God's grace, we will discover we have received what we were looking for.