Journey:pilgrim in Lands of Spirit

The Journey The Bible is saturated with the image of a journey. Wherever we turn, we read of individuals making journeys. Perhaps the greatest of those was the forty-year journey of the people of Israel from their harsh captivity in Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan. Elsewhere, we read of Abraham stepping out in faith to leave the land of his ancestors and go to a place chosen by God. He did not know where he was going, but he knew whom he would be traveling with, and that was good enough for him. We also read of pilgrims setting out to travel to Jerusalem, daunted by the thought of the mountains they must climb and the harsh conditions they will face, and yet consoled by the thought of the presence of God as they travel. We read of the people of Jerusalem returning home after their long period of exile in Babylon. The New Testament relates how the earliest term used to refer to Christians was "those who belong to the Way" (Acts 9:2). They were to be seen as travelers on their way to the New Jerusalem. Thinking of the Christian life as a journey through the world offers us a vivid and helpful way of visualizing the life of faith. Consider each of the following points. 1. The image of a journey reminds us that we are going somewhere. We are on our way to the New Jerusalem. It encourages us to think ahead and look forward with anticipation to the joy of arrival. One day we shall finally be with God, and see our Lord face-to-face! 2. Traveling does more than lead us to the goal of our journeying. A journey is itself a process that enables us to grow and develop as we press on to our goal. To travel is thus about finally achieving journey's end, with all the joy and delight that this will bring--but it is also about inducing personal and spiritual growth within us as we travel. Journeying is thus a process that catalyzes our development as people and as believers. This is an important point and needs to be considered further. JOURNEYING AND SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT In one sense, people who complete the journey are the same as when they began it. Yet in another sense, they are different in that they have been changed by what they experience. A journey is a process of personal development, not simply a means of getting from A to B. To travel to a distant land is a purposeful and intentional matter. We must believe that this journey is worth undertaking. The journey itself offers us the chance to deepen our commitment to its object. As we journey, we have the opportunity of reflecting on our goal and anticipating our arrival. Anticipation of the joy of reaching that goal then becomes a means of sustaining us as we travel. Spiritual writers of the Middle Ages used the Latin word viator to refer to a believer. The word literally means "a wayfarer" or "a traveler"--someone who is passing through the world. The term points to the need to see oneself as a traveler, not a settler; someone who is passing through the world, not one who expects or wants to remain there. The journey also allows us to understand ourselves better. Each of us is a complex mixture of strengths and weaknesses, some of which are known to us and others that are hidden from us. Those strengths can help us minister to others and build up God's kingdom, just as those weaknesses can hinder us. Learning about ourselves, and responding to what we find, is an important aspect of Christian discipleship. To journey on our own is to have the time and space to uncover ourselves; to travel with others is to allow them to identify the strengths and weaknesses we manage to hide from ourselves, and be supported as we try to engage with them. Yet the Christian life is not easy, nor is it meant to be. Jesus himself pointed out that following in his footsteps involved taking up a cross. To be a Christian is potentially to suffer. As Christians down the ages have disMcGrath, Alister E. is the author of 'Journey:pilgrim in Lands of Spirit' with ISBN 9780385495882 and ISBN 0385495889.