In Search of Sacred Places

I am the midst of preparing a reading that I will be presenting on a college retreat this weekend. That's right on top of lecture prep, teaching, and marking I get to do some public speaking. I've decided to explore the idea of pilgrimage and linking it to the pursuit of Shalom. It is a concept that I've explored somewhat in preparing for a course I teach entitled Interpersonal Processes.

A pilgrimage for those not enlightened can be describe as a physical journey to a spiritual destination. Daniel Taylor in his book In Search of Sacred Places says, "the act of going is itself a vote for the possibility of meaning. It accepts risk - the risk of coming to harm, of being a fool, of wasting time and money and energy - for the mere possibility of a highly intangible reward." Taylor's journeys took him to the mystical islands (such as Iona) that Celtic monks used as spiritual retreats.

The second concept I hope to merge with the first is the idea of Shalom. Shalom is a Hebrew word most commonly translated as "peace." However it has much richer nuances including the concepts of justice, prosperity, and reconciliation. Walter Brueggemann wrote: "The central vision of world history in the Bible is that all of creation is one, every creature in community with every other, living in harmony and security to the joy and well being of every other creature...Shalom is the substance of the biblical vision of one community embracing all creation."

We seek Shalom because we live in a world of broken relationships. In a sense we all should be on some sort of pilgrimage for peace, a journey that looks towards restoring that which is broken. Is it mere trinkets that we work our lives away for? I hope not - I hope the riches we strive for are found in family and friends.

I've travelled much over my thirty plus years of existence and each trip has taught me much about myself. But it also has taught me much about others, about culture, and ultimately about my understanding of God and His Creation. What have you learned on your journeys thus far? Are they worthy enough to be called pilgrimages of self-discovery? The pursuit of shalom seems to be at times impossible, much like Frodo and his companions' journey (see LOTR) to Mordor to bring healing to a broken land.

G