Thought for the Week: Pilgrimage

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. Psalm 84:5 I walked St Cuthbert’s Way during the summer with a group. 100km over 5 days in the Scottish borders, from Melrose to Holy Island. It was a mixture of exercise, in the great outdoors, with companions who shared bread together, and also shared lives and stories. Sometimes we walked in silence. We shared the joy of walking barefoot across the sands at the end of the journey and that sense of completion. I have come to think of all of life as a pilgrimage. A journey with a goal in mind. It is a powerful metaphor. Expressed so well in this poem: Reflections on Life’s Road by Julie McGuiness. Some people travel in straight lines: Sat in metal boxes, eyes ahead / Always mindful of their target. / Moving in obedience to coloured lights and white lines, Mission accomplished at journey’s end Some people travel round in circles: Trudging in drudgery, eyes looking down, / knowing only too well, their daily unchanging round / Moving in response to clock and habit / Journey never finished yet never begun. I want to travel in patterns of God’s making, walking in wonder, gazing all around / Knowing my destiny, though not my destination / Moving to the rhythms of the surging of his Spirit / A Journey which when life ends, in Christ, has just begun. Rev Phil Simpson, member of the Christian faith

Date: Monday 20th November 2023