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Wondering Pilgrim

~ the ramblings of a perambulent and often distracted sojourner

Wondering Pilgrim

Category Archives: pilgrimage

Discovering old journals

18 Monday Jun 2018

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in autobiography, Ministry, Personal, pilgrimage

≈ 1 Comment

Packing to move house is like an archaeological dig. Every now and again as you negotiate the “toss” and “keep” piles of stuff, you come across something that says “pause”. Today I discovered a journal I began to keep when I was considering acceptance of the call to train for ministry. It nearly went on the “toss” file because it’s hidden behind a cover that says “English Exercises”. The first entry is dated 16th March 1969.

It was sober reading depicting my struggle with the issues of discernment for both the faith journey and the times. My horizons were quite narrow and unashamedly and rudely evangelical, even though I had been formed in a broader representation of Churches of Christ. At the same time, I struggled with a recognition of this something that sat awkwardly, attempting to filter strident influences from other sources through what my fledgeling faith discerned as a gospel of love. My reflections on whether or not to become involved in the Vietnam Moratorium Campaign predicted my future journey into a gospel pacifist outlook, even though I sought leadership from the churches in vain.

Now, as I near the end of sustained involvement in church ministry life some 49 years later, I see that while I have changed much, much is still the same. To be sure, I move through difficult circumstances and challenges with more poise, dignity and authenticity than then. But the questions still remain, the search for a genuine expression of the gospel of love amongst the people I am called to serve, wherever that may be. My greatest caution is to not stop the questing, for I have come to understand that the answer is in the never-ending question. So it looks like Wondering Pilgrim must continue his journey!

We are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder…

22 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Personal, pilgrimage, Spirituality, theology

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Jacob, journey

Jacob’s story is not exemplary. He was a smooth operator who finally met himself in a confronting way – a way that involved disturbing encounters with the Source of his being. One of these encounters (Genesis 28:101-17) became a song sung by oppressed slaves of the southern states of the USA. Its plaintive cry perhaps expresses Jacob’s inner journey from bondage to health and integrity.

Ash Wednesday Confessions

05 Wednesday Mar 2014

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Blogging, pilgrimage, Spirituality

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Ash Wednesday, Lent, Psalm 51

AshWedToday, Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, I respond to the challenge not to give up something, but to take something on – a discipline of some kind. A way forward might be to begin a daily reflection according to my spiritual tradition. This Ash Wednesday, my guide requires me to write a prayer of confession for use throughout Lent.

A resistance arises within me, for the traditional rubrics of confession across the spectrum of Christian traditions are rooted within the Augustinian notion of original sin, by no means a universally accepted Christian understanding of the human condition. The moulding of my understanding has been more influenced by Abelard, or even Pelagius, eschewing the notion that we are driven by an innate corrupt nature from birth, but acknowledging the freedom of choice in our moral judgements and expressions.

Psalm 51, set for the beginning of Lent, nevertheless says:
5 Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.

In isolation, it is a favourite proof text for the notion of original sin. The very event of being conceived and born into the human race seems to doom us to passive perdition. Our being is forged and lived out in this experience of corrupt alienation from the source of life for which we must continuously beg forgiveness and receive absolution. The dispensation of such absolution is institutionalised in systems open to manipulation and control by fellow human beings who are similarly blighted, no matter how sanctified. The fact that I rebel against the injustice of this might simply prove the point! On the other hand, I might be drawn to argue against such a defeatist notion of the human condition by focusing on the celebrated maxim of Augustine’s fellow great Doctor of the Church, Irenaeus: “The glory of God is humanity fully alive.”

The prooftext for so-called “original sin” is not the whole of Psalm 51, which pointedly, is not a treatise on systematic theology. Rather the Psalm in its fulness is the cry of a contrite heart, aware of falling short of one’s innate purpose and identity. The psalmist is aware of the way forward, and it is in the direction of awakening awareness:
6 You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.   

It is the psalm of someone who is aware of the choices and decision making pertaining to their destiny, and their willingness to steer the course that will take them there. The poet has a growing self-awareness of the traps and snares that lead to deviation from the way and his own susceptibility. He seeks to focus on the tradition, values and relationship that keeps him on a true path.

The psalm indicates no final arrival at a resolution to the disquiet it expresses, but confidence that contriteness and desire is benevolently received.
17The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

If one can confidently embrace one’s own brokenness and dissatisfaction at being “not yet there,” perhaps one is well oriented to begin the Lenten journey.

Oh, the prayer of confession I’m supposed to write?

Let the above words lead me to a place of stillness and quiet that, this day, reveals the opening of the way further forward.

 

 

Travelling the Ancient Mediterranean

29 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Personal, pilgrimage, travel

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

ORBIS, Roman Empire, Time travel

Reconstructed model of a trireme, the type of ...

Reconstructed model of a trireme, the type of ship in use by both the Greek and Persian forces (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ever wanted to travel the ancient Roman roads, working out the cheapest or swiftest journey by foot, donkey or trireme?  What’s the most efficient route from Eleutheropolis to Olisipo? Which time of the year favors a sail across the briny? Look no further than ORBIS. You can travel back in time and set up your own travel agency!

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Such is life?…

28 Friday Oct 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Ministry, Personal, pilgrimage, Spirituality

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

life stages, meaning of life, P J Harvey, Peggy Lee, postaday2011

Often a picture does it best. I’ve seen reams written on “the six (sometimes seven) stages of life” and even run the odd workshop or two myself. I found this silent but eloquent expression on imgur.com.  The caption is a bit of a worry. That’s why I’ve inserted the question mark.

“Such is life!” These are the final words of Ned Kelly, Australia’s much feted anti-hero, just before the trapdoor dropped in Pentridge prison. Such, indeed,  is the fatalistic outlook that has been woven around his story.

P J Harvey and Peggy Lee ask “Is that all there is?” Take your pick! (I like them both for different reasons)


The implication in the lyrics is that we must look beyond this life to satisfactorily answer this question, and one might expect that I would agree, and because of my vocation, point to the Christian affirmation of “something better beyond.”

I prefer, however, to point to the possibility of fulfillment through each of these stages. It is evident to me that this is central to the kingdom talk of Jesus, who continually announces the “reign of God” was upon us (literally “breathing down our necks”). Live out his radical teaching of muscular and proactive compassion and lay these down as the building blocks of a wholesome community.

The “something better beyond” then finds expression through each of those six stages of life’s journey, whatever our contextual challenge, whatever the circumstances.

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Crossing places

08 Thursday Sep 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Personal, pilgrimage, Spirituality

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Christian spirituality, postaday2011, transition

Rope bridge

Image by ahisgett via Flickr

Back from retreat. Reflecting still on the ramifications of chaos theory, entropy of closed systems, and the ‘strange attractor‘ in evolutionary transition. So much sync with the Christian story! Ably led by Margaret Silf.

Here’s something I wrote on “crossing places”

My rope bridge came to mind even before it was mentioned
I hate even thinking about it
yet consider it I must for it has come to the rescue many a time before today.
As a child I played with rope
trying it this way and that
little realising that I was learning its swing, its knots,
and breaking suppleness into the stiffness of newness.
In the headiness of youth I one day swung it wide
and some divine being caught the end and tied it.
I crossed many gorges and rivers, taking companions with me.
Then there was the night someone in panic threatened to bomb my bridge.
“Career” he called it.
I said he could do what he liked with my career,
but only God could remove my rope, my vocation.
Another from unconfronted pain
set white ants loose on the wooden trestles.
Others sought to shore up the timbers
even when I pointed to the rope.
The timbers failed
but my rope was in place
and we all made it to the other side
where new beginnings beckoned.
The rope is always there – in my rucksack
– right now way down underneath the other things.
I have to unpack everything before pulling it out, neatly coiled
ready to be stretched out, tied to something,
and the loose end thrown across to – what?
I have to trust again that some angel on the hidden side will hold it,
and catch me as I practice my clumsy aerial acrobatics.
God I hate heights!
But with the resources of wit and wisdom honed by previous use
I swing like Charlotte on her web
not knowing where the rope is attached
for it disappears into the mist.
I simply trust that the angel is not a demon
that the destination heralds a new beginning
and not a final ending.
 

 

 

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Exploring destinations beyond

06 Tuesday Sep 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in pilgrimage, Spirituality

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Berlin Wall, Ignatian, postaday2011

This image was taken in 1986 by Thierry Noir a...

Image via Wikipedia

Imagine living in West Berlin during the time of the separation of East and West Germany – half a city full of bright lights and high commercial activity walled off to its other half and the surrounding countryside. Bus and train routes come to an abrupt halt at the borders. The destinations displayed on the board are beyond but out of reach. To resident and casual visitor, they are unknown and mysterious.

This is one of the pictures painted by Margaret Silf, who lived in West Berlin for three years during this period. Of course, the image provokes thoughts of the kinds of walls that we erect in our inner worlds that prevent us from reaching destinations beyond. When the Berlin wall came down, how attainable were the places beyond? Did the destruction of physical barriers lower psychological walls? How long does it take for new freedoms to be realised?

What might happen when we actually travel to those destinations beyond?

Blogged in advance because I’m now secluded in retreat under the leadership of Margaret Silf.

 

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Melancholy optimist

02 Monday May 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Personal, pilgrimage, theology

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

hope, Jeremiah, optimism, postaday2011, Victor Frankl

In early adulthood I was fascinated with the work of Victor Frankl, holocaust survivor and author of “Man’s Search for Meaning” and logotherapy. His psychiatric practice was based on observations of those with whom he was interned in the concentration camps. Given similar opportunities to survive, some succumbed to the horrendous conditions and died of “natural causes” and others (including Frankl) not only survived, but were able to build productive lives from the ashes.

This gave me a foundational understanding of the theological concept of “hope” – not wishful thinking in some naïve Pollyanna universe, but a drive to survive and thrive in spite of dire circumstances. The much maligned Hebrew prophet, Jeremiah is probably the biblical version of Frankl. He was given the unpopular charge of warning Israel that its unjust ways during its economic “boom” time would lead to its downfall. After the nation’s population is invaded and relocated faraway in exile, Jeremiah becomes the tender voice of hope and encouragement.

Has there ever been a time in our collective history where the melancholy optimist has not played a significant role?

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Meditating with Rumi

05 Tuesday Apr 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Personal, pilgrimage, Spirituality

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meditation, postaday2011, Rumi

It was an Iraqi man who introduced me to the beauty of Rumi.

Today’s post from Spirituality and Practice also celebrates the spirit of this wise medieval poet and mystic”

Search the Darkness
Sit with your friends; don’t go back to sleep.
Don’t sink like a fish to the bottom of the sea.

Surge like an ocean,
don’t scatter yourself like a storm.

Life’s waters flow from darkness.
Search the darkness, don’t run from it.

Night travelers are full of light,
and you are, too; don’t leave this companionship.

Be a wakeful candle in a golden dish,
don’t slip in the dirt like quicksilver.

The moon appears for night travelers,
be watchful when the moon is full.

from Love Is a Stranger: Selected Lyric Poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi by Kabir Helminski

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Craft for a Dry Lake by Kim Mahood

04 Tuesday Jan 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in autobiography, Personal, pilgrimage

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aborigines, autobiography, books, pilgrimage, postaday2011, reconciliation

Part of my summer reading is an autobiography that weaves the theme of attachment to land by settler and Aborigine alike. The death of the author’s father prompts a personal pilgrimage to the remote station lands of her childhood. Her connection to the land is marked by ambiguity – it is a wrestling with identity that does not find satisfaction without including Aboriginal perspectives and connection. Through writing and painting, Kim Mahood shapes her journey.

This excites me for it gels with the continuing “listening journeys” some of my church are currently engaged in, particularly as we seek to discern how our own identity is affected by connection to the land we now share and the nuances of mapping and naming the land which now has the layer of European settlement imposed upon it.

An excellent review of Mahood’s work is here:

Eco-humanities Corner :Kim Mahood’s Evolving Geographies by Saskia Beudel.

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