“Imagine the moment of departure as the crossing of a threshold. The anxiety you may feel is the reverse of the thrill of anticipation. Something new is about to happen; something unexpected but transformative.”
~Phil Cousineau, The Art of Pilgrimage

I have been thinking about thresholds a lot lately. In a few days I will leave with a group of pilgrims to travel to sacred sights in Ireland. It is a journey that has included much planning and great anticipation. As the group has come together from various communities, some far flung, it has been a joy to watch it take shape. Each person has their own reason, their own hopes for what this journey holds. It has been intriguing to me to hear the many reasons the people have offered as to why this trip, why now.

One of the patterns I have begun to hear in the telling of these stories is the sense of standing at a threshold. Several people have mentioned that this journey marks a significant threshold moment for them, a time when things have been a certain way and now are about to be something different. This has stayed with me because I know it is also true for me. I am also standing at a pivotal point, not where I was and not where I am going. It is a feeling that produces both anxiety and anticipation.

In his book The Art of Pilgrimage, Phil Cousineau tells story after story of pilgrims embarking on a journey that becomes transformative. For some this is their hope, their intention. For others the threshold moments and their transformation becomes a surprise that is the gift of being present to the moment. As they place their foot upon the path they make the concerted choice to pay attention, to be open to what the journey brings. Without their planning, without their effort.

A pilgrimage is different than a vacation or even a trip. Vacations can have pilgrimage moments and trips can bring transformation but a pilgrimage sets as its intention an experience of the Holy. Wherever the landscape. Mountain. City. Prairie. Lakeside. Valley. Ocean. Cliffs. Island. To be present to the way of the Divine in any of these places and all places makes for a pilgrimage life.

As I spend this weekend preparing, packing and making last minute adjustments to my suitcase, I am thinking of all those who will be my fellow pilgrims. I pray a blessing upon them that anxiety will fall away and into anticipation. I pray that as each item is placed within a bag that it is done with intention and attention. I pray that each thing will be something that supports the walk they are about to make. I pray that the threshold on which we all stand is one that will lead to experiences of the Holy on the path to transformation.

Of course, these are all things that can happen without getting on planes, trains or boats. This is the opportunity offered to us with the rising of each day. Each morning provides the threshold to walk in the world as a pilgrim. To put one foot in front of the other with intention. To walk with an open heart and open hands inviting the Sacred to be our companion.

To the pilgrims preparing and all that is yet to be, I say blessing.