“Imagine once again the goal of your journey. What is your way? How do you see yourself wending your way there? In what way are you walking? As a tourist in search of entertainment? A nomad adrift? An explorer? In ancient Sanskrit, the word for chess player was the same as that for pilgrim. Try to see yourself on a chess board. What is your next move?” ~Phil Cousineau
The mornings have been very dark. And the darkness of night comes earlier than ever. We are in those days when it is not yet winter but not completely fall and certainly not summer. Autumn has decided to extend its colorful stay. As I look out of our living room window, the last tree in our yard to lose its leaves every season is showing a brilliant red. I returned from fall in Scotland to the waning days of fall in Minnesota and feel blessed to have been surrounded every day by orange, yellow, red and brown….the passionate hues of a dying summer.
The rhythm of my days is now filled with meetings, laundry,traffic, the stuff of a work-filled life. Gone is the free form sense of what it means to be on pilgrimage, on holiday. And yet, even as I write those words, I know it is not true. One clear memory I hold is of a circle of fellow travelers. We sat and reflected on what we had experienced during a day of pilgrimage…..prayer….singing….scripture…the joy of eating lovely food with equally lovely people….some time for writing…..other time for walking…..savoring the gifts of fresh air, beautiful landscape, the sacredness of Creation. At this point, someone said:”Why do we think we have to board ferries and go to far off lands to have this experience of pilgrimage?” We all fell silent. Why, indeed?
Isn’t every day a pilgrimage? That is, if we are intentional about this path we travel with the Holy, isn’t every day an opportunity to pray, sing, revel in each blessed bite of food, each precious face we meet? If we are open to the ways of our living, isn’t there always time for sacred texts in whatever way we name and claim them? Isn’t there always the time for walking and breathing in the gift of the trees to us….the oxygen that keeps us alive? And if we really admit it to ourselves….isn’t there always at least one moment(or more) when we can take the time to watch the changing of the color, the falling of a leaf, the entrance of yet another season in our life?
Tomorrow will come with all the possibilities of every day. We can choose to see it as another box to cross off on the calendar, as a list of chores to be accomplished. Or tomorrow can be the beginning of a pilgrimage. The pilgrimage we call our life.
Thank you for these words and ideas of daily pilgimage…I see my temporary sub teaching job as such a gift in my life….each day I get to see wonderful kids (K-5) who teach me far more than I teach them. We are walking the path together this fall…and with only 10 days left to be with them, I want to truly “see” them, “hear” them, and celebrate having time to learn. I am sad about saying goodbye, but need to trust that the pilgrimage will continue each day and other people will join in step….for awhile. Knowing I only have a short time left with these little ones, I am going to really enjoy them and be as real as possible!
Eileen: Thank you so much for your comments. What a wonderful gift you must be to your students! You are certainly dispelling the myth of ‘substitute’ teachers. Being engaged in the lives of young people is a gift and I feel grateful that I have many in my life. Blessings to you, and your students, on this continued sacred path.