"We are travelers on a journey without a fixed abode;
on our way, not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
I am currently reading the book The Way of a Pilgrim, translated from the Russian by R.M.
French. It tells the story of an anonymous
Russian Christian who travels through Russia and Siberia in the 19th
century visiting monasteries and the shrines of the saints in order to learn
what it means to “pray without ceasing.”
This pilgrim worries not where his next meal will come from nor where he
will sleep at night. He simply travels
the world, following the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as to where he should
go next and how long he should stay. He
writes, “By the grace of God I am a Christian man, by my actions a great
sinner, and by calling a homeless wanderer of the humblest birth who roams from
place to place. My worldly goods are a knapsack and some dried bread in it, and
a Bible in my breast pocket. And that is all” (p 3).
This pilgrim has many human and spiritual encounters on his
journey, as we all do on each of our own pilgrimages to our heavenly home. I think that the concept of being a pilgrim
is rather lost on our world today. We
are indeed a pilgrim Church, making our way together, sharing tales of victory
and defeat from our travels along the way.
Yet oftentimes we travel through life more as tourists taking in the
sights and focused on what we have to gain, or we live as permanent
inhabitants, forgetting that this is not our final destination.
What does it mean to live as a pilgrim? One definition of a pilgrim is a traveler to
a holy place. A true pilgrim is a
seeker, a seeker of the good, the true and the beautiful. A pilgrim seeks to live the call God has
placed on his heart. We are all called
to be pilgrims, whether we be moms, dads, Priests, Sisters, teachers,
policemen, writers, mechanics, bank tellers, or cashiers. Whether we wander far in this world or never
leave the street we grew up on, may we live with the heart of a pilgrim, and
find at last that which our heart seeks, as the pilgrim in The Way of a Pilgrim does.
Through his pilgrim journey he comes to understand that which he seeks,
“to pray without ceasing,” agreeing with St. Macarius the Great that , “To pray
often is in our will, but to pray truly is a gift of grace.” (p 139)
Truly, this can be applied to all pilgrims in this world –
the call God places on our hearts is certainly within our will, and to live it
well is a gift of grace. May God bless
each of our journeys. May we help one
another when the road becomes long and difficult, and rejoice with one another
when at last we reach the destination where we will meet the pilgrims who have
gone before us!
Written by Kristen
Written by Kristen
