Pilgrim's Progress three - Known

‘He walked before God all the days of his life’. This phrase appears shed loads In the Bible and seems to be a popular way for Old Testament writers to sum up the life of a believer. To live your life before, in front, with reference to, acknowledgement of, in the conscious presence of a Someone is I guess distinct from a general random walk.

Lately I have been having lots of conversations about the word ‘DESTINY’ and I note that despite all our modern advances comforts and technologies, people still have a sense that something bigger than all this operating in their lives and desire to seek out their place in it all. When you break it down further, I think to speak of destiny is often to speak of identity, do I have a unique purpose, who am I or perhaps more importantly, am I known?

This for me is where the walking before God bit comes in – to walk before God is to live knowing that you are known. Being known from a perspective beyond us, having our life in some way observed, is I believe what holds us in the fabric of this complex universe and gives us meaning.

Prayer for the Pilgrims:
May you walk in His Presence, as His Presence enfolds you
May you walk in His Love, as His Love ever moulds you
May you know you are known under sun, under sky
May you know you are watched with the kindliest eye

Pilgrim's progress two -Walking

I've got this hunch, there is something about walking. 'Something happens in your brain when your walk that helps you to think' said a pupil of mine quite unexpectedly the other day. It turns out that research shows walking regularly increases your life expectancy and  lowers your risk of contracting mental illnesses including conditions related to memory loss.
But there is something else I think, something primeval: man, feet, earth, not too fast and too slow, our steady purposeful motion under the wide sky. Digging around a bit more I see that in the Hebrew Bible, to walk indicates much more than an activity or a low budget sport, it refers to your actual state of being, your way of living. Everyone has their own walk don't they? And it would be hard work (though potentially quite amusing) to fake this over a long period of time. The way you walk is the 'way you roll' as we say in modern speak. The Scriptures speak of walking humbly, faithfully or obediently, walking in the Way or off the path, in the steps of the wicked or in the rhythm of the Spirit. So as we start our journey we become more conscious of our way of walking, but I suggest the deeper revelation to come will be not in the how of our walking but in the who with ... to be continued ...

Prayer for Pilgrims:
May our walking bring us to our knees in prayer, may our prayers strengthen our feet to walk

Pilgrim Progress One - Thin spaces

Hello bloggettes! First apologies -it's been a while! But what better time to get back on the blogging bandwagon than after a surprisingly profound interlude on the oh-so-close-to-my-front-door 'Camino de Santiago' (smug face). Currently I have some precious friends following the route, so last weekend I decided to go along for the ride. Such was the depth and range of the stories I heard and the characters I met that I became convinced that Martin Sheen was about to jump out at me from behind a near-by haystack. But, ironically, what I had neither bargained for nor prepared for, was that God could be waiting for me too and I was about to be tripped up - in a good way. 
Forgive me if I use this term wrongly, but what I am often longing for is to live in a 'thin space'. And by 'thin space' sadly I am not referring to the space between my bikini top and bikini bottoms (diet pending) but rather that state of being where you feel deeply sensitized to the reality around you, its significance and worth, your place in it all, God. In some ancient traditions like that of the Celts, they believed there were actual physical places in which you could experience more of this closeness - the holy, the sacred UP IN YOUR FACE.

So as I merrily walked the Way this weekend, in mid animated chat with a lovely lady from Tennessee, I suddenly found my voice breaking into tears, tears that appeared to becoming from some very deep place, not sadness, not really joy either, I guess I'd call it Spirit - something in my Spirit moved as we shared some hopes and dreams and I really quite enjoyed it! Was it the wine the night before, the lack of sleep due to a spectacular symphony of snoring, the sun stroke, the hormones, or something quite OTHER? the mysterious whisper that comes when you least expect, the stone in the road that brings you to your knees.

I have decided to keep blogging until my friends reach Santiago, thus joining in pilgrimage with them virtually and seeking out some thinness in my own daily walking!

What next?

What next? It's a kind of New Yeary question that seems to emerge after Christmas as surely as a turkey burp. And yet this year I've felt a rumbling within that has lead me away from this question for once, and towards a whole new way of thinking.

It strikes me that we live in a very linear way, fair enough really, as we find ourselves projected through space on the irreversible arrow of time. But I question whether the deeper life, the life of the soul is actually on this same trajectory or operates in this way at all.

We can go through life like a kind of tick box road map exercise, seen that, done that, achieved that, what next? what more? we ask, as forwards and forwards we go cramming in the acolades before the time runs out. However this New Year when I came up for air, out of the wrapping paper and mince pie frenzy, I found myself  wanting to look in a completely different direction ... How about sideways? at the people and things around me, gifts already given, perhaps needing more apreciation, or, how about down? at the depth and meaning of it all.

 I'm wondering if I sometimes lack time for people, for beauty, for art, for reflection cos they are just not fast enough. So for now, I'm going to experiment with throwing away the road map (think I may have already fallen of it anyway) and try to slow up and take a look round.

I think I've been lane swimming in a soup (not literally - thats gross). There is a lot to explore and I sense that under the surface the eternal currents of the soul might carry us to new adventures if we could only dive deep enough to catch the flow.

San Augustin

This week I moved to a new area of town named after Saint Augustine. Filled with all the mixed feelings of moving, I find myself in a local coffee shop this morning - also named after the afore-mentioned Mr August and to my surprise I find this sign hanging above the bar, which is a quote from the man himself : 'Know yourself. Accept yourself. Overcome yourself'. This came to me like a nod from a new neighbour and a shard of light as to what this next phase of my journey could be about. I think I am entering into a time of more head space and reflection and I think San Augustin has just given me a good idea as to how to use it!

My bike

Can I just say ... bikes are amazing!! I have my great friend Jeremy to thank for this new discovery. He introduced me to biking by giving me a load of English classes in different corners of the city, lending me his bike and then leaving the country. Brilliant!

Good things about a bike include
1) Lots of fresh air
2) Always arriving with a windswept look
3) Free transport
4) Excersice without the gym fees
5) Good views
6) Clear ecological conscience (apart from all the plane tickets I book!)
7) The possibilty of new adventures with the simple use of your legs

And now I wish to thank the lovely Jose for sorting me out a new bike - all purply and cool -so I can continue to zip around the city with this new found freedom :). Thank you boys!