Day 51l: What pilgrimage always Provides … (06/04/2019)
As was so often the case whenever I entered a town of any significant size, I headed first & foremost to the local Catholic church (for the simple reason that they were almost always open, while their Evangelical counterparts were almost always closed) to rest a bit in its sanctuary’s cool calm, to offer up my humble prayers of Gratitude, and to renew my Walk’s underlying sense of Purpose & Resolve … 🙂
“Regardless of their particular belief or location, places of pilgrimage always mark a kind of geography of faith — that is, they make visible, almost tangible, how one’s forefathers encountered and interacted with a living God; how that Divinity did not withdraw after creation or after the times of Jesus Christ or Buddha, but rather is always present within and around us all. Pilgrimage waystations allow their walkers to pause and reflect on the same — allow them to remember that the Divine is ever at work within them — allow them to deeply experience the same; meekly in times of worship or prayer, and yet powerfully in moments of willing self-sacrifice &/or selfless service. Pilgrimage paths bless their residents by constantly reminding them that we are all ever allowed to literally walk in God’s footsteps; that we are all ever allowed to see the Divine in the natural beauty that surrounds them, and become the Divine in every act of Kindness they offer to others.” ~ unknown
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