TRAVEL LIGHT. Tough decisions must be made very early about what to take. There is no room for excess baggage. When overburdened and on foot, the smallest molehill can feel like a mountain. Pack too much stuff and you will never get out of your tracks. These are the items (in no particular order) we have found essential to our life on the road: a good book to read and share, some common prayers, fresh water, fine bread and wine, all shapes and sizes of love (very light to carry – we take all that we have), a lively faith in God, a candle for light, and each other.

"WHO IS IN CHARGE?" This is a question frequently asked of St. Mary’s members. Without a priest-in-charge or out front, our answer rarely satisfies the curious. We have no evident tour guide, protector, or fearless leader. "Well, don’t you at least have a Pastoral Leader or Lay Vicar?" NO. We have learned to trust and depend upon the insight and gifts of one another for a general sense of direction. Some of us chart the stars, some observe the sun, some consult a compass, others watch for landmarks; but we all believe that God is before us and with us to prepare the way and fashion our life together. With pilgrims it is difficult to distinguish leadership. Robed simply and similarly, they tend to serve without distinction.

TRAVELLING COMPANIONS. I don’t know if everyone is invited or just that at St. Mary’s there is no one interested in checking the guest list. Unlike a cruise ship, as far as we can tell, there is no ticket to purchase – the price for us all has already been paid. In the knowledge of that equality how can we possibly pick and choose our travelling companions? It is also always wise to accept and welcome the late joiner. Our inclusiveness today may provide the member whose courage will sustain us tomorrow.

DEPENDENCY. It is hard and we struggle with it, but we have often had to acknowledge our dependency. With a long way to go, sooner or later we all need help. While we would like to be the perfect model of hospitality – we usually end up receiving much more than we give, more than we can repay, and maybe more than we deserve. One example are the Supply Priests who regularly celebrate the Eucharist with us at St. Mary’s. It seems like a simple transaction – they come to where we are, preside at the Eucharist, and then leave. The difficulty is, they often stay or return to pastor and counsel and teach. The journey has taught us that reliance has the power to bond us, humble us, and make us better servants. Self-sufficiency is the lonely way.

LOST AND FOUND. Probably the best part of a pilgrimage is that it is nearly impossible to make a mistake and be truly lost. A pilgrimage is holy from the beginning of the journey until its end, from the going forth to the returning home. The road is holy and so is all that we see and all that we come to know and all that we are called to do along the way. On occasion, it does seem to us at St. Mary’s that maybe we have made a wrong turn. We have left the familiar path and cannot imagine how we will ever move forward. Sometimes it is good to feel a little lost and confused and afraid. It makes us appreciate the moment when the fog lifts and we are found to be in exactly the right spot. What we need to see, know, and do is there before us. On a leisurely pilgrimage there is time to pause at even lesser-known shrines.

"WHERE ARE WE GOING?" Unlike the tourist, we have no agendas to fill and no discernible schedule to keep. The trip is not an escape from our "real" lives but rather a journey of transformation as we move from our old selves into new life. A Lenten staple at St. Mary’s is the pilgrim devotion, "The Way of the Cross," from the Book of Occasional Services. Always led by youth, we travel from station to station until at last the whole company of travellers ends up before the altar and prays the concluding prayers. For the practical pilgrim who needs an answer to the question, "Where are we going?" that final prayer provides as good a destination as any: "To Christ our Lord who loves us, and washed us in his own blood, and made us a kingdom of priests to serve his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." 

© 2001, Diocese of Oregon
updated 05/03/2003 16:26
contact: kylew@diocese-oregon.org