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| Last Time I was in Whistler - David on the far left |
It was April 2012. I had just graduated from seminary in
March and Mandy was due with our first child in May, so it felt like I needed
to do something grand to mark and celebrate these two occasions. So my best
friend, David, and I took an epic road trip – mountain biking, rock climbing,
and disc golfing from Seattle to Moab and back. It was a fun trip, but an
exhausting trip. It was a time of incredible connection and amazing memories.
But more than anything, it was a spiritual trip…a pilgrimage.
And now, four years later, David and his wife are about to
have their first child and he asked me to join him on another adventure as we
mark the commencement of a whole new season in his life. Here in July (perhaps
as you are reading this), I will be spending 4 days in British Columbia, riding
mountain bikes at one of the most amazing mountain bike locations in the entire
world, Whistler. Another fun, but exhausting trip. Another time of incredible
connection and amazing memories. But more than anything, another spiritual
trip…another pilgrimage.
The art of pilgrimage has been an essential piece of
Christian spirituality for thousands of years. There is something significant
that happens when we get away from busyness, unplug from normality, turn off
the technology, and allow ourselves to simply be. Scripture is laced with stories of journey – of being sent from one place to the next, with the
expectation of encountering God along the way. And we have this same spiritual
opportunity available to us – the challenge to go and encounter – to see
God’s presence in new and transformative ways.
So I’m trying to seize the spiritual potential of
pilgrimage, and I’m encouraging you to do the same. Find opportunities for spiritual
journey this summer. Find ways to get away. Find places to go that will refresh
and encourage your soul. Find good people to do life with – people that will
leave you better than when they found you. And I’ll see you when I get back –
with my spirit in a better place than when I left.
