Thoughts for the Week - Lent is an Inner Pilgrimage
To become a pilgrim is to undertake a particular kind of journey, a sacred journey which involves both inner and outer dimensions. Among the varied reasons people give for deciding to take such a step, it is often possible to discern a sort of longing – a desire for something different, for something deeper than the everyday. Pilgrimage is often to far off holy sites, but during Lent, we can go the deepest holy site within - God within ourselves.
Within our increasingly secular culture, many still seek spiritual sustenance as they try and negotiate the challenges of life. For some, there appears to be a crisis of hope and they look for purpose and direction in a rapidly changing scene. In the midst of busy mobile lives, taking time and space to find yourself remains an attractive proposition, which the relative anonymity of a pilgrim journey can provide.
For spiritual believers, pilgrimage is also about rediscovering how the stories of our lives fit into a wider context. It is about re-connecting with the wider Christian story, which is so deeply embedded in our history and culture. As we walk in the mystical footsteps of pilgrims from earlier times, we may find ourselves caught up in their experience and the perennial invitation to journey again with our travelling God - a God calling to us to find the Kingdom of God with.
Hudson Smith in a forward to the book ‘Art of Pilgrimage’ states: “The object of pilgrimage is not rest and recreation – to get away from it all. To set out on a pilgrimage is to throw down a challenge to everyday life. Nothing matters now but this adventure.
1. As you set out on your journey through Lent, for what do you long?
2. What or who is calling you to leave the normal pattern of your days for a while and pay
attention to the meaning and purpose of our lives?
3. In response, how shall you make time and space to journey again inward - the inner
spiritual pilgrimage?
Adapted from CTBI Lent Course
In Lent, we are invited to be on a spiritual journey - to ask spiritual questions - to explore the nature of spiritual and consciousness. The following two videos invite us into this journey:
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