CathNews New Zealand

It’s easy to say that pilgrimage must be a movement forward, but it is not so easy to do.

That’s because I can’t see the road ahead, which is getting wider and suggesting new scenery. What will it demand of me?

We know we have to leave the oast. St Paul reminds us that we need to“put away childish things” but what is wrong with staying in the present?

Do we have to keep moving?

There is a pattern in my life.

I like comfort.

I like to be secure.

I’m not at all sure of the way ahead.

Maybe I can stay in one place for a while, surrounded by all that has been comfortable and familiar.

So yes, I camp on the side of the road.   My excuse is that the way ahead could be dangerous. Here, I can have routines I know.

Every day is the same.  Good memories. Comfortable prayers.  Teachings I’ve always carried.

These are my furnishings.

I don’t need a further journey.

I am at the side of the road for a while,  so comfortable with the past; I keep telling myself this is as far as I need to go.

What’s the point in going further?

Then I hear the voice.

I would recognize it anywhere.

He’s here again, waiting outside my tent.

I know he won’t go away. He has eternal patience.

Sometimes he carries a shepherd’s crook.  Sometimes he wears a crown of thorns. Always he has love.

I know have to leave comfort to follow him on the road ahead.

He will take me through rivers that will baptize me with a kind of sacred poverty.

He’ll have me climb steep mountains that give a better view.

Possibly, he’ll offer crucifixion and resurrection as a way of growth.

I know the way ahead will be difficult.

But I am with Him, and He is with me.

There can be no separation.

I leave the side of the road, discovering yet again that faith must be lived forwards. And I know that in spite of the difficulty, it will be marvellous beyond words.

• Joy Cowley is a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and retreat facilitator. Joy Cowley is a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and retreat facilitator.

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