"Pilgrimage" means different things to different people. Attempts to define pilgrimage are inevitably imprecise, but the following thinking might be helpful, along with some more precise structures offered later:
- Pilgrimage is a transformational journey, during which significant change takes place.
- Pilgrimage often has a physical element, but is also cognitive and emotional.
- Wesleyan pilgrimage is inclusive - there are ways in which it can work for all.
- Pilgrimage may be seen as a search for God (or is God really searching for us?)
- What makes a walk/holiday/event into a pilgrimage? Preparation? Intentionality? At least some sense of intentionality in the mind of the organiser, but not all participants have to buy into every aspect in order for it to be pilgrimage.
- "Pilgrimage is far more than making a physical journey. It is being prepared to allow that restlessness, which is in every human soul, to entice us away from our security in search of something deeper, a clearer vision of the God who calls us to his service." (Canon Stephen Shipley).
'Mindfulness' and 'Mission' are "buzz" words in the current climate - pilgrimage has something to offer to both, with the potential to enhance our experience of God and our engagement with the world.
- An intentional pilgrimage can be seen as a metaphor for life and can help participants to reflect upon:
- Setting out: departure/preparation/restlessness/striving for something more, something deeper/conversion/birth and death/leaving places, possessions and people behind…
- Travelling the pilgrim path: an outer and an inner journey/companionship along the way (with present companions but also with those who have trodden the path in the past and who will do so in the future)/attentiveness - to nature, to companions, to God/struggle/pleasure/sights and sounds/colour…
- The sacred centre: encounter with the Holy/transcendence/worship/the Divine/thin places/theophany/transfiguration/significance of place…
- Re-entry: transformation/self-awareness, how have I changed?/what have I learned - about myself/others/God/moving on/parting from new friends/descending the mountain/ending one journey is starting another…
- A Dominican model offers another four-fold pattern which can be applied to pilgrimage:
- Via positive
- Via negative
- Via creative
- Via transformative
In any pilgrimage the following may be true:
- Transformation takes place through walking, talking, mutual support and care, shared food & drink, communal worship, prayer and silence.
- Pilgrimage offers a liminal space in which emotions may come to the surface, inner soul-searching may be undertaken, pilgrims grow in self-awareness, in awareness of others and of God.
- Carrying packs can lead to deeper reflection on "what are we carrying?" in life.
- Visiting pilgrimage sites/touching the sacred may lead people to confront their own faith/doubt. Sometimes it brings disillusionment and the need to rebuild vision and discover new priorities.
- Encounter with other Christian traditions - whether ancient or current - can lead to a re-examination of contextual theology and practice.
- Journeying together - especially in the open air, provides a neutral, non-threatening environment where questioners and seekers may feel more comfortable than in a church setting.
- There is huge potential for Christian pilgrims to "bring a friend" on such a venture and intentionally to create pilgrimage with a relaxed missional element.