The Sacred Journey - Pilgrimage and Everyday Life

Travel! It provides a wonderful opportunity to see life as it is lived by other people and the chance to see, feel, taste, hear and experience other cultures. Travels as a child with my family showed me for the first time that everyone did not live the same way we did in Flint, Michigan. We saw Appalachian families, heard Southern accents, saw red clay soil and encountered the dichotomies of plantations and shacks, riches and poverty, long stretches of Great Plains and high mountain ranges, farmers and industry and Amish people and city dwellers.

My viewpoint was changed because of these experiences. I was humbled and my eyes were opened as I began to appreciate differences. I no longer thought everything and everyone lived like we did or – more important –even that they should.

Later in life, going on retreats helped me to find my own rhythm and voice. I’d pack my bike onto my car and head out alone to unknown destinations to think, dream and discover myself outside of normal routine.

Yet, travel still had more gifts to bestow. I discovered sacred travel – traveling to places that man has found holy, where humanity has prayed, worshipped and sanctified their daily lives. I discovered traveling not as a tourist just visiting or lightly passing through, but by becoming a sacred traveler, a pilgrim.

No longer do I find myself sipping spirits in glasses adorned with tiny umbrellas at the seashore, but sipping spirit at holy places. Rather than gambling at a casino, I find throwing myself into the unknown a thrill. Rather than queuing up for a spin of Virtual Reality, I experience transcendent realities. These voyages feed and strengthen my soul and my spirit and provide vision and messages and understandings for my life.

Learning to travel has become a metaphor for how to voyage through life. Do I travel through life as a tourist – watching, visiting, observing, even enjoying, but never really moving in? Perhaps becoming part of the culture, tasting deeply, learning its rich language, and then being disappointed when the trip is over? Or – do I travel through life as a spiritual pilgrim, living life as a sacred journey, knowing each moment is to be revered, imbuing the mundane with sacredness, using all life experience to continually further my relationship with God or Spirit?

“Vacations” now really provide a chance to vacate – to leave behind that which is the norm, to stretch my awareness of possibilities. I know true re-creation, now . . . re-creating my self anew from my habitual workaday self, aligning most fully, instead, with my spiritual, mystical self.

By removing myself from my daily life, being in the places found holy throughout time, I listen to the call of spirit. It is as if God responds to the gesture, finding me “easier to talk to” as I actively listen. I feel I receive truths and a vision for how my life can be and how life on the planet can be.

*****

By sensing the spirit underneath all of our religious beliefs throughout contemporary cultures and cultures through time, I feel united with all peoples. I find increasingly that spirit unites people.

I like to think that my appreciation and reverence for these holy sites is possibly a gift to them, too. Perhaps I am pollinating and being pollinated by the sacred in these sites. Or, perhaps that is because it is hard for me just to “take” from these sites; their gifts are so vast.

Now when my husband and I travel it is usually in the form of a pilgrimage where our spirits are fed and our souls lifted, our worship strengthened and our vision for what is possible furthered — that we then take back to those in our lives.

Every pilgrimage has left its transforming mark. I feel connected to mankind throughout the ages and throughout the world. How I think and what I think about is different. I enjoy stretching myself — my beliefs, my ordinary reality — to encompass the larger questions and infinite possibilities of life. Every day has moments of connection with the divine spirit. No longer an “escape,” travel has become an infusion into my spirit as I honor my mystical side and the opportunity to feel as “one” with myself, God, all peoples through geography and throughout time.

I am dedicated to live my life as a sacred journey, my life journey as a pilgrimage, dedicated to God. I awaken most days and ask, “How can I serve you today, God? What would you have me do? Thank you for this day in which to serve you.” Perhaps this is the reason that travel beckons us all. It calls to the explorer in us, the adventurer; it tickles our imaginations, the part of us that craves something different, something more. We become aware that there is a vast universe out there and we stand on only one small part of it, intimate with only a small share of the universe’s riches.

There are many sections of territory, each with its own wisdom, benefits, messages, ruths and sanctity, furthered by its peoples throughout time. By becoming a tourist, we can become aware of the world’s riches and diversity. By becoming a spiritual traveler, we experience the essence and the spirit of a place. We feel its holiness and sense our unity with the men and women through time who have shared their hopes and dreams, fears and gratitude and who have lifted their hearts to God.

And perhaps, it is through sacred travel that we can be inspired to become spiritual pilgrims in every moment of this magnificent life journey.
Judith Sewell Wright is the founder of the School of Exceptional Living and of Prairie Spring Woods, a retreat center near Elkhorn, Wisconsin. She leads worldwide explorations and in-depth studies that have included the American Southwest, Great Britain, the Emerald Isle, Scotland, France and other European sites, Egypt, Thailand, and, this year, will experience Israel. For more information, please contact Jillian at 312/329-1200 or visit their website at www.exceptionalliving.com

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	*The Sacred Journey - Pilgrimage and* *Everyday Life* *by Judith Sewell Wright* What gifts can be yours from going on a pilgrimage?
	Travel! It provides a wonderful opportunity to see life as it is lived by other people and the chance to see, feel, taste, hear and experience other cultures. Travels as a child with my family showed me for the first time that everyone did not live the same way we did in Flint, Michigan. We saw Appalachian families, heard Southern accents, saw red clay soil and encountered the dichotomies of plantations and shacks, riches and poverty, long stretches of Great Plains and high mountain ranges, farmers and industry and Amish people and city dwellers. My viewpoint was changed because of these experiences. I was humbled and my eyes were opened as I began to appreciate differences. I no longer thought everything and everyone lived like we did or – more important –even that they should. Later in life, going on retreats helped me to find my own rhythm and voice. I’d pack my bike onto my car and head out alone to unknown destinations to think, dream and discover myself outside of normal routine. Yet, travel still had more gifts to bestow. I discovered sacred travel – traveling to places that man has found holy, where humanity has prayed, worshipped and sanctified their daily lives. I discovered traveling not as a tourist just visiting or lightly passing through, but by becoming a sacred traveler, a pilgrim. No longer do I find myself sipping spirits in glasses adorned with tiny umbrellas at the seashore, but sipping spirit at holy places. Rather than gambling at a casino, I find throwing myself into the unknown a thrill. Rather than queuing up for a spin of Virtual Reality, I experience transcendent realities. These voyages feed and strengthen my soul and my spirit and provide vision and messages and understandings for my life. Learning to travel has become a metaphor for how to voyage through life. Do I travel through life as a tourist – watching, visiting, observing, even enjoying, but never really moving in? Perhaps becoming part of the culture, tasting deeply, learning its rich language, and then being disappointed when the trip is over? Or – do I travel through life as a spiritual pilgrim, living life as a sacred journey, knowing each moment is to be revered, imbuing the mundane with sacredness, using all life experience to continually further my relationship with God or Spirit? “Vacations” now really provide a chance to vacate – to leave behind that which is the norm, to stretch my awareness of possibilities. I know true re-creation, now . . . re-creating my self anew from my habitual workaday self, aligning most fully, instead, with my spiritual, mystical self. By removing myself from my daily life, being in the places found holy throughout time, I listen to the call of spirit. It is as if God responds to the gesture, finding me “easier to talk to” as I actively listen. I feel I receive truths and a vision for how my life can be and how life on the planet can be. ***** By sensing the spirit underneath all of our religious beliefs throughout contemporary cultures and cultures through time, I feel united with all peoples. I find increasingly that spirit unites people. I like to think that my appreciation and reverence for these holy sites is possibly a gift to them, too. Perhaps I am pollinating and being pollinated by the sacred in these sites. Or, perhaps that is because it is hard for me just to “take” from these sites; their gifts are so vast. Now when my husband and I travel it is usually in the form of a pilgrimage where our spirits are fed and our souls lifted, our worship strengthened and our vision for what is possible furthered — that we then take back to those in our lives. Every pilgrimage has left its transforming mark. I feel connected to mankind throughout the ages and throughout the world. How I think and what I think about is different. I enjoy stretching myself — my beliefs, my ordinary reality — to encompass the larger questions and infinite possibilities of life. Every day has moments of connection with the divine spirit. No longer an “escape,” travel has become an infusion into my spirit as I honor my mystical side and the opportunity to feel as “one” with myself, God, all peoples through geography and throughout time. I am dedicated to live my life as a sacred journey, my life journey as a pilgrimage, dedicated to God. I awaken most days and ask, “How can I serve you today, God? What would you have me do? Thank you for this day in which to serve you.” Perhaps this is the reason that travel beckons us all. It calls to the explorer in us, the adventurer; it tickles our imaginations, the part of us that craves something different, something more. We become aware that there is a vast universe out there and we stand on only one small part of it, intimate with only a small share of the universe’s riches. There are many sections of territory, each with its own wisdom, benefits, messages, ruths and sanctity, furthered by its peoples throughout time. By becoming a tourist, we can become aware of the world’s riches and diversity. By becoming a spiritual traveler, we experience the essence and the spirit of a place. We feel its holiness and sense our unity with the men and women through time who have shared their hopes and dreams, fears and gratitude and who have lifted their hearts to God. And perhaps, it is through sacred travel that we can be inspired to become spiritual pilgrims in every moment of this magnificent life journey. Judith Sewell Wright is the founder of the School of Exceptional Living and of Prairie Spring Woods, a retreat center near Elkhorn, Wisconsin. She leads worldwide explorations and in-depth studies that have included the American Southwest, Great Britain, the Emerald Isle, Scotland, France and other European sites, Egypt, Thailand, and, this year, will experience Israel. For more information, please contact Jillian at 312/329-1200 or visit their website at www.exceptionalliving.com Next Article Return to This Month's Index Go to Homepage

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