A Sacred Journey

practicing pilgrimage at home and abroad

5 Steps to Engage the Interior Journey

When we think of pilgrimage, journeys to far-off lands often come to mind, right?

Perhaps you get an image of a medieval pilgrim walking the long road to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, a bundle of belongings thrown over his back and a staff in hand. Or maybe you think of the large groups of people who journey to places like Lourdes in France each year in search of healing. Perhaps it’s the multi-step journey to Iona in Scotland that comes to mind, which begins with a ferry from the west coast of Scotland, a drive across the Isle of Mull, and another ferry before you reach the Holy Isle (not to mention whatever is required just to get you to the west coast of Scotland).

All of these journeys are adventures, no doubt, and opportunities to encounter new cultures and learn about new ways of encountering God. But for a journey to be a true pilgrimage, there must be an interior journey, too. In the end, that’s why we leave home, after all—because the journey out can always lead to a journey in. It’s the interior journey that makes an ordinary trip into a pilgrimage and transforms a tourist into a pilgrim. And while an exterior journey or traditional pilgrimage is certainly a valuable practice for initiating an interior journey, you don’t have to leave home to begin an interior journey—you just need to be willing to engage the journey within.

Here are 5 steps for engaging the interior journey to help lead you along the path:

1. name your question

Every journey begins with a question, and in The Art of Pilgrimage, author Phil Cousineau tells us that it is our questions that lead us to our quest. To discern your question, listen to your longing—What is it that brings you to the interior journey? What do you hope to encounter and discover? Like the pilgrim, approach this step with curiosity, allowing the question to unfold along the way if it isn’t clear from the beginning. (Sometimes this can even be the most authentic form of journeying, as we can be certain that we’re not trying to control the journey and force the outcome, but instead allowing the Sacred Guide to lead.)

2. enter in

When you begin a journey, you cross a threshold. On an exterior journey, the shift is obvious, because the world around you is different—you have left home and entered into foreign territory. This shift in the interior journey is more difficult to notice, however, because we’re often still embedded in everyday life. To fully enter in, establish regular spiritual practices that can help you shift from the outer world to the inner one as you set aside what’s happening in everyday life for a time to focus on what’s happening within. Contemplative practices and the postures of silence, stillness, and solitude are excellent tools for this. Learn how to practice 7 forms of contemplative prayer here.

3. find a guide

Whether it’s a spiritual director, pastor, trusted friend, or favorite author, find a guide to keep you accountable to your commitment and accompany you along the way. Find a spiritual director in your area at sdiworld.org.

4. bring the whole self

This is easier with a traditional pilgrimage, as it’s more obvious that your whole self is joining you on the journey. Life at home, however, can be compartmentalized, and if we’re not intentional, we might end up thinking the interior journey is just about the mind rather than the body and soul. To round out the journey and bring your whole self, incorporate movement into your practice. Emulate the pilgrim by taking long walks or walking a labyrinth, letting your feet do the praying for a change. Creative practice is another way to bring the whole self, allowing the images held deep within the soul to come to the surface and serve as waymarkers along the path.

5. prepare an altar

Most pilgrimages involve a journey to a Sacred site, and just because your journey is an interior one, it doesn’t mean you can’t create a Sacred site of your own. Do so right at home by creating an altar on a side table, shelf, or in a vacant corner. Visit this place to renew your intention, just as you would any other Sacred site, and add elements that reflect your quest and intention as the journey unfolds, allowing it to become an outer representation of the journey you are taking within.

 

(PS: Setting out on an outer journey? Because all types of pilgrimage involve an interior journey, these steps apply for journeys both near and far.)

Pilgrim Podcast 08: Silence + The Contemplative Path with Rich Lewis

Silence, solitude, stillness—these postures are tools for the pilgrim and markers of the Contemplative Path.

Rich Lewis of silenceteaches.com has been entering silence daily for years through the practice of Centering Prayer and believes that silence can teach us both more of ourselves and of God. In today’s conversation, we talk about contemplation and the Contemplative Path and explore how the silence experienced in Centering Prayer can make the practice so transformative.

read more »

Create a Mini-Pilgrimage Right at Home

Have the itch to set out on a meaningful journey?

Sure, we’d all like to travel on pilgrimage to far-off places. After all, there’s a reason that some of the pilgrim archetypes include the Nomad, Seeker, and Sojourner. However, because of life’s limitations, this can’t always be a reality. That doesn’t mean, though, that you can’t follow the longing of your heart and set out on a “mini-pilgrimage” right at home or even next door.

To create a mini-pilgrimage right at home, you simply need to apply the 3 elements of pilgrimage: a journey (an intention or desire and time set apart), engagement with the True Self (connecting with you), and Sacred Encounter (connecting with God). Retreats are one of many types of pilgrimage and can serve as mini-pilgrimages during which we are invited to leave our everyday lives, if even for a moment, and learn from wise teachers, ask difficult questions, and try new things, all the while being reminded of what it means to take care of ourselves—mind, body, and soul.

Whether you have a week, a weekend, an hour, or simply a stolen moment after breakfast, here are 9 steps to creating a mini-pilgrimage right at home: 

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Everyday Calls to Prayer: 5 Surprising Invitations to Encounter God, Hidden in Your Daily Life

Everyday Calls to Prayer from https://www.asacredjourney.net

I have the best intentions of spending time in silence and solitude with God each day.

In my mind, I wake up with the sun each morning, fully refreshed, and slip out of bed to pour myself a cup of coffee. I sip it slowly in gratitude as I sit on my patio, savoring the moment as the birds chirp their chorus and the wind gently rustles through the leaves of the trees that form the canopy above me.

Certain that I have taken it all in, I open my reading, starting the day inspired. Sometimes it’s scripture or a book about spiritual practices. At other times it’s simply a text that explores a topic that I’m passionate about. Every time, though, it is something that brings me closer to God.

After a chapter or two, I set my reading aside and pick up my journal, putting onto paper what was stirring in my heart. Then, I finish my time in prayer. Sometimes I express my desires in words, as I learned as a young child. At other times, I simply sit in the presence of God, knowing that the silence is enough.

This summer, this daily practice has happened around… a few times. I try to maintain elements of this practice on a regular basis, but the surprises of everyday life often leave it fragmented, at best.

Waking up with the sun is the first to go. Sometimes I drink my coffee intermittently in the bathroom as I fix my hair instead of drinking it while peacefully surrounded by my garden. And the reading, journaling, and time spent in prayer? They’re quickly replaced by an early departure for a long day working or running errands. I don’t have any children yet, but I imagine the interruptions are just as often and far less predictable.

As much as we might love routine, a morning of uninterrupted bliss where we can set time aside for our relationship with God can be hard to come by. As for afternoons and evenings? Afternoons are usually filled with the next “to-do,” and by the time evening comes, weariness often takes over. With one day like this after another, it can seem nearly impossible to find the solitary time with God that you crave.

What if I told you, then, that there are ways to encounter God that are hidden in your everyday life, even within the very tasks that fill your days?

In monastic communities, monks and nuns commonly adhere to a practice called the “Liturgy of the Hours.” For centuries, members of these communities have gathered multiple times each day, pausing when the bells toll and turning toward God in a spirit of prayer.

Though the peace of a monastery might seem the furthest thing from your busy schedule, translating this practice to your everyday life can offer you invitations to encounter God throughout the day in places you might never expect.

Here are five seemingly-stressful everyday circumstances that can instead be turned into times of prayer:

1. Laundry day?

As you sort the dirty clothes from the previous week, call to mind your recent places of struggle and desolation. After they are clean and you begin to put them away, reflect on the week ahead, praying that you’ll experience God’s presence and grow more fully into your True Self.

2. Stuck in traffic on your daily commute?

Turn off the radio and practice quieting your mind and simply sitting in God’s presence.

3. Time to cook dinner?

Join the rhythm of your chopping or stirring with the silent repetition of a verse or a prayer of old, such as “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) or the Lord’s Prayer. (Read my own reflections on this here.)

4. Dishes piled up in the sink?

As you wash the dishes, bring to God the places where you need forgiveness and desire to be washed clean, allowing the suds and warm water to bring you (and your kitchen sink) new life.

5. Have so much on your mind that you can’t go to sleep?

Instead of counting sheep, name the things you are grateful for as you drift off into a (much more) peaceful slumber.

GO FURTHER…

What seemingly-stressful everyday circumstance in your life can you turn into a time of prayer? Leave your response to the question or the post in the comments.

 

Wander: The Desert

Today I’m starting a new series called Wander Wednesday, where I’ll share destinations from Seattle to Rome and highlight their pilgrim appeal, whether it’s the birthplace of pesto or home to an ancient cathedral housing the relic of a saint. As time passes and the collection of destinations grows, my hope is that the Wander Wednesday series will become the perfect resource for the wandering heart in search for adventure!

Wander Wednesday: The Desert » asacredjourney.net

destination: the desert
pilgrim appeal: silence, spaciousness, wilderness, mystery

The desert has been calling out to pilgrims and seekers for thousands of years, urging them to come, to wrestle, and to be transformed. From the Israelites 40 years of wandering to Jesus’ 40 days of fasting followed by temptation, the desert has long been known as an environment of personal growth and Sacred Encounter within many spiritual traditions.

In fact, the tradition of monasticism was birthed in the desert. Long ago, in response to the merging of the Christian faith with the Roman Empire, those who believed God was not found in a system of hierarchy and rules but instead found within fled to the desert to live in silence and solitude in pursuit of the Divine. These devotees became known as the desert mothers and fathers, and while they originally set out on their own, it wasn’t long until their way of living and experience of the Sacred drew followers into the desert to encounter its wonder for themselves. Once there, though these seekers were guided by the desert mothers and fathers, they discovered that the desert herself was the Divine teacher.

The desert is filled with wisdom and parallels to God, life, and our deepest selves. It is a place of unique and striking beauty, and yet it is also filled with great danger. You can be completely alone, yet at the same time feel utterly exposed. In this environment, you are no longer the center. You are simply a bystander in a land that has flourished in the same way for tens of thousands of years—a participant for only a brief moment in time.

The desert is a refining fire. The silence it provides brings relief to the urban dweller, and yet is quick to reveal your struggles, your loneliness, and your fear. The stillness of the desert invites you to be fully present, and as you slowly surrender, learning to simply watch and observe, you learn to also watch and observe your inner stirrings and the movement of the Divine.

Like the Sacred, the desert is always there waiting for you to seek it out, and its invitation is the same: come, sit, surrender, and simply be.

GO FURTHER…

Have you had an experience of Sacred Encounter in the desert? What relief does the desert bring you? What fears or insecurities does it bring to the surface?

 

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