A Journey with God
One of the most significant places in the UK for me is the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, and the pilgrimages I’ve made to and from the island walking barefoot over the sands have been holy moments.
Unlike other journeys, pilgrimages are deliberate journeys of transformation. I went on a pilgrimage from Watchet to Stogursey this year with a group of laity and clergy from Quantock Deanery. It had moments of challenge, and moments of joy. We were definitely changed as we travelled. It was a holy time.
In Christian teaching, pilgrimage has long been seen as a form of martyrdom. Not the martyrdom of shedding our blood, but the martyrdom of shedding our preferences, our self-centred desires.
The psalmist wrote, “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on a pilgrimage.” Those words show a yearning to be with God in his dwelling place, and that’s a yearning we can all mirror in our prayers, whether we can physically undertake a pilgrimage or not.
One of the most famous stories of a pilgrimage is, of course, Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. I find the closing words of the book among the most moving in literature, as they link our lives in this world to our journey’s end with God. “I cannot describe what Christian felt when he came face to face with the King … I woke too soon. And besides, no one can dream the Unimaginable. I shall have to cross the River myself before I can say exactly what the City of Gold contains. I would not have chosen to wake. But I did. I am awake now. Time to get up, then, I suppose, and continue the journey. I am on a pilgrimage, too, you see. Everyone is.”
May God bless you on every step of your pilgrimage, and may you find your rest in him.
Fiona Gibson, Bishop of Taunton