Pilgrimage
Not having been raised in a church-going home, when my faith journey began in high school through Young Life, all this Jesus stuff was new. Looking back on those days through high school and college (thankfully OSU was taking anyone in those days who could fog a mirror or I never would have gotten in), I sponged up language and beliefs and ways of doing faith as fast as I could. And I’m sure my family and friends thought I’d gone off the deep end.
After college I went to a solid seminary and graduated full of answers to any and every question, even those no one was asking. I had been well schooled, holding to a tight and tidy systematic and practical theology, and stood ready to go toe-to-toe with anyone who might disagree. Like with any faith tradition, life can become one big echo chamber if we surround ourselves only with folks who only see the world as we do, so the voices I heard mostly echoed my training. And in our lane, certainty was all important.
So by now, I’ve walked with Jesus for over 54 years and honestly I have let slip the demands for certainty, and I’m just fine with that. My answer-sheet has shrunk as my view of God has grown. What replaced certainty is mystery and majesty and the list below is a slice of what it looks like:
When compared to the wildness of Jesus and his early followers, a tidy, rule-bound faith-life holds little attraction for me.
I’m ever more comfortable with questions that hang than demanding answers for every matter.
Discovering anew how the Spirit moves more like the wind as he wishes than like a bus on a schedule, which causes me to sit up and pay attention.
My slowly growing understanding that God’s essence is love, and all of his attributes and actions flow from that.
Honoring how Jesus becomes real to folks who understand and practice faith way differently than I do.
I’ve come to believe my understandings of God have always been somewhat provisional since I, like you, have not stopped growing and changing and learning, coupled to the truth that my ability to grasp God stuff is as limited as I am. I guess what I’m talking about is pilgrimage. Moving from one place toward another, in search of a deepening faith, always with wanting more of Jesus.
Pilgrimage implies movement coupled to a measure of humility.
Pilgrims examine and evaluate the new and challenging against the scriptures.
Pilgrimage involves risk as the old country is left behind as new lands come into view.
Pilgrims recognize they might have gotten it wrong in the past, so they travel carefully in the present.
At the same time, pilgrimage and change makes some folks nervous and routinely upsets the apple-cart of what makes them feel secure. The other day I used the phrase “faith journey” and then read an online article that challenged the term. His point was that we need to hold to a firm, full, and final set of doctrines and live within them, never questioning, and “journey” implies a lack of a solid unchanging foundation, and susceptible to doctrinal drift.
My response is, “Yes, but.” While I agree with his baseline idea that we hold to a few central beliefs, my understanding of who God is and how I fold into his life has changed as I have backpacked toward geezerhood. I like the idea of a faith journey since we travel along learning more of God as years and experiences tumble by. The idea behind a pilgrimage is growth that sometimes calls for rethinking ideas formerly held as immutable.
I don’t (and neither does my tribe, or any other that I know of) have a corner on the truth market. While we try the best we can to get it right, if we just pop our head out of our spiritual silo we will see how many different ways Jesus is interpreted and applied to life. No need to be defensive or intimidated; just make room for folks to experience God in their life as the Spirit guides them.
Looking over the Bible, I have my chosen ways of seeing life and faith, while others look at the same passages and come to different interpretations and applications. It’s kind of like standing in an alpine meadow filled with color, punctuated by a rambunctious stream cascading down and craggy mountains soaring behind it all, crowned by azure skies and puffy clouds. Asked to choose a favorite, any hiking group will see the same scene and be attracted to different parts. To me, it’s the same with Jesus followers.
What has not changed is Jesus, and just like in his day, he continues to cause amazement and questions and wonder.
What I’m getting at is for us who follow Jesus, to keep growing and exploring and expanding our understanding of who God is and what he is up to seems like a good thing to do. Embrace your pilgrimage where the Spirit beckons you onward, willing to examine, again, what you say is true.
Spend time in silence, listening.
Pray ancient words.
Seek the Savior in the stories of the scriptures.
Visit with saints, young and not-so-young, who have tasted the kindness of the Lord and applied it all differently than you.
Oh, the places you will go…until we are home.
Music? You betcha
We lost a giant last week from my personal playlist
A little Mountain Gospel (complete with an unsmiling string bass player)
A song for all of us on a pilgrim path
Lame jokes? Why not!
Kathryn's 5-year-old developed a strong interest in spelling once she learned to spell STOP.
After that, she tried to figure out her own words. From the back seat of the car she'd ask, "Mom, what does FGRPL spell?"
"Nothing," Kathryn said.
Sitting at breakfast she'd suddenly ask, "Mom, what does DOEB spell?"
"Nothing," Kathryn answered.
This went on for several weeks. Then one afternoon as they sat coloring in her room she asked, "Mom, what does LMDZ spell?"
Kathryn smiled at her and said, "Nothing, sweetheart."
The 5-year-old carefully set down her crayon, sighed and said, "Boy, there sure are a lot of ways to spell Nothing!”
__________
In dire need of a beauty makeover, I went to my salon with a fashion magazine photo of a gorgeous, young, lustrous-haired model.
I showed the stylist the trendy new cut I wanted and settled into the chair as he began humming a catchy tune and got to work on my thin, graying hair.
I was delighted by his cheerful attitude until I recognized the melody.
It was the theme from "Mission: Impossible."