"A pilgrim must be a child who can approach everything with an attitude of wonder, awe and faith. Pray for wonder, awe, desire. Ask God to take away your sophistication and cynicism. Ask God to away the restless, anxious heart of the tourist, which always needs to find the new, the more, the curious. Recognize yourself as a pilgrim, as one who has already been found by God."(R. Rohr "Radical Grace" p. 247)
A literal pilgrimage would need to suspend disbelief I think. I've never been on a pilgrimage but my sense is that in order to fully appreciate "holy" spaces, one has to let go of the need for proof.
Now what if I were to approach all of life as a pilgrimage? That would take real courage. To approach each day, each moment with that attitude of wonder, awe and faith. I understand fully what he means by the anxious heart of the tourist. Worrying about what's next. Planning everything out, and always feeling tired. Maybe I spend too much time living life like a tourist, moving on quickly to the next experience without taking the time to fully appreciate all that the current one has to offer.
A tourist may see many things, or at least what the tour guide wants you to see. A pilgrim will experience things more deeply and see what God wants us to see.
I think I'll try a little more living life as pilgrimage rather than Trafalgar tour.
Blessings,
Ed
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