Easter: The Place of Our Resurrection

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Easter: The Place of Our Resurrection

This Easter evening we resurrection-believing types are likely sitting down, basking in the power of today's symbolism, while licking the stolen-from-our-kids'-Easter-basket chocolate off our fingers and pondering what to do with all those hard boiled eggs.  Our Lenten journeys over, we are quickly back to sipping on our coffees, wine or whathaveyou's, secretly grateful that that discipline practice is over and we can return back to ordinary life.

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Pilgrim's Path: Roadside blessings

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Pilgrim's Path: Roadside blessings

That ultimate sense of wonder within the experience is what drives so many people to engage in [these] rigorous trials.  Father Stephen Canny, an Irish priest who leads a parish in Santa Rosa, California, believes strongly in the effectiveness of pilgrimage.  He has climbed Croagh Patrick, a popular pilgrimage site and storied mountain in Ireland, three times himself and has seen it work wonders on the devoted. "You are more alive after you have overcome something difficult," he says.  "You're changed by the mountain and the fact that you have confirmed your faith.  It's a remarkably effective way to answer the question, What is my purpose?"

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The Pilgrim's Path: Seeing the Sacred

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The Pilgrim's Path: Seeing the Sacred

As soon as you mark your journey as a pilgrimage, you are drawing a line in the sand transforming how you move through the world-how you see, hear and taste the world around you.  And inevitably, because of this manner of intention-and because the Powers that Be know what you've done (that whole line in the sand act)-there will be things that go wrong...terribly wrong.  That is simply the nature of the Pilgrim's Path; no longer can you just simply curse at an inconvenience or change in plans.  There is Some One speaking to you now through the chaos.  There is a Force that will derail all your best laid undertakings and ideals for this journey just so you will see things anew, afresh; just so you will see the Holy, the Mystery that is present.

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The Pilgrim's Departure

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The Pilgrim's Departure

Before one departs on a pilgrimage, it is essential to participate in leave-taking rituals.  These separation rituals mark for yourself the place from where you are departing; they represent your current state of mind, your current situations, and your questions.  They also prepare you to cross a threshold from the known to the unknown.

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The Call

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The Call

In a culture whose calendars are captained by smart phones and apps, it is increasingly rare for us to be moved by a season beyond predictable greeting cards and holiday decor.  These seasons-be they spiritual, soulful or secular-have a much needed purpose in our lives; they punctuate our plain places with celebration and solidarity.  They break open our schedules and routines and bring us together; we gather in community and communion around these seasons, which testify to our lives, to our journeys and where we are headed.

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