THE LONGING (feel it)
for things to be different for there to be a way to surrender the past
and move ourselves intentionally into the unknown future one step at
a time to give ourselves to something so profoundly transformative
that we would be changed forever
THE CALLING (hear it)
Go out from this building and know yourself apart from this place
which you have called home for many years. Go on a deepening and
renewing journey together… Yet the Lord pleads with you still: Ask
where the good road is, the godly paths you used to walk in, in the
Days of long ago. Travel there, and you will find rest for your souls.
(Jeremiah 6:16)
THE PREPARATION
How will you prepare? What do you need for the journey? What will
you take? What Spirit-centred practices support you as you anticipate
the journey?
DEPARTURE
This is a threshold place, where we release the old and the new has not
yet come into fullness...the moment is approaching when you actually
leave this familiar place, knowing you can never be here again in the
same way.. You can feel at a visceral level your yearning for the new
tearing you away from the security of the past.
THE PILGRIM’S WAY
We make the way by walking, letting go of our preconceived ideas.
Trust the hospitality of the strangers you meet on the way. Tell stories
as you go. Trust the gifts and experience of those in your pilgrim
community. Risk disclosing your vulnerability as you go on the
unknown way. Can we tell ourselves the truth of how it’s going?
THE SACRED EXPERIENCE
Follow the thread of spiritual deepening that others have
followed before. We thought we were going away from
ourselves, but on this journey we come to the centre of our
own existence. We thought we would be alone, but we find
ARRIVAL
There is a great moment, when you see, however distant, the goal
of your wandering. The thing which has been living in your
imagination suddenly becomes a part of the tangible world.
(Freya Stark) We arrive back home again, transformed by what we
have experienced.
BRINGING BACK THE BOON
Here’s how we have changed! These are the gifts we received
along the way that we could never have imagined would be ours.
We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. T. S. Eliot
by Jan Richardson
With every step you take,
this blessing rises up to meet you.
It has been waiting long ages for you.
Look close and you can see the layers of it,
how it has been fashioned
by those who walked
this road before you,
how it has been created
of nothing but their determination
and their dreaming,
how it has taken its form
from an ancient hope
that drew them forward
and made a way for them
when no way could be seen.
Look closer and you will see
this blessing is not finished.,
that you are part of the path it is preparing,
that you are how this blessing
means to be a voice within the wilderness
and a welcome for the way.