The notion of the ‘pilgrim’ is a wonderfully rich and powerful one for Christians and other believers. As relevant today as it has always been. To be a pilgrim doesn’t necessarily mean travelling to some devotional shrine in a far off land – for all of us there is the spiritual journey towards the core of our being.
Tread the ground softly,
As you walk along;
Hold humble contact
With creation’s song.
Do you hear voices
Chanting in chorus,
Praising the Master
Long gone before us?
All nature displays
A divine imprint,
Which man must receive
As glad sacrament.
Our fellow creatures
Trust to providence:
Instinct sufficient
For their sustenance.
The pilgrim perceives
All ownership is
Simply delusion,
For all things are His.
Every breath, each
Moment, mere fragile
Holds on heaven’s hearth,
Our sole domicile.
All baggage pared down;
Taking and using;
Precious resources;
Never abusing.
Trimmed for the journey,
Sight set to the fore,
Yet seizing the day,
Here, now, all the more.
What baggage is this?
Material, yes;
But attitudes too;
Willing to address;
Ism’s avoided;
Wary of sacred
Tenets from ‘on high’;
Not taken as read.
The pilgrim discerns
The foreground in view;
Trusting the journey,
Unfolding anew.
Knowing that God is
Somehow in control,
Though at times it’s tough
For body and soul.
Tending his own wounds,
Yet ready to heed,
And samaritan
Those in greater need.
Travelling as church,
United in Him,
Pilgrims together;
The Lord’s anawim.
The pilgrim is called,
And follows that star,
Driven and driven,
Like old Balthazar.
His rest will come soon,
Worshipping the Word,
Whose life he mimics,
Whose call he has heard.