I thereafter flowed smoothly into Towson proper, where I soon encountered a preacher who happened to be exiting the Church of the Immaculate Conception. He asked me what I was doing and why, and a highly unusual exchange took place – first one where he didn’t offer any affirmation or support for my selfless endeavor (an endeavor completely in alignment with the primary teachings of his own supposed Lord & Savior, I might add), but instead asked me if I had a good podiatrist before oddly noting that “We men are somewhat particular about being touched, but the one time when we aren’t is at the barbershop.” I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that this open adherent of the anti-Christian heresies of Paul would be so off-base (if not downright weird) when faced with such a pure embodiment of The Way of Christ (any sincere form of peace pilgrimage or selfless service qualifies), and yet the entire meeting caught me off guard nonetheless, and we parted ways without either of us knowing what else there was to say …

“My church is at the feet of the helpless, the downtrodden, and the oppressed; to lift them up is my mission and to bring them greater peace is my worship. In truth, the piousness of any religious cohorts – no matter their creeds or claims – means nothing if their hands don’t unfold completely each & every day to the poor … A million years ago there had been no hillock here (much less the church that graced its crest) and in a million years to come there might no elevation here at all – and yet in a million years from now there almost certainly will be, if not the remaining vestiges of a once-savage humanity, at least a deeply Caring something. For that is the ultimate remaining Secret of the Universe – that the Cosmos itself was an entity that ever sought harmony, and thus that ever created things that went on Caring.” ~ inspired by Abhijit Naskar & Clifford Simak

Filed under: Peace Pilgrimage #02: Walking HOME (2019) by Scaughdt