Backyard Pilgrimage by Rev. Tom Richards
No long journey, I take my
pilgrimage in the backyard.
It's not that I believe it
to be holier ground then
vacant lot across the street,
but that, for me, it's where I
was hijacked by a miracle.
One chilly fall evening,
I took my melot on the
veranda and sat relaxed.
On the top stone of the pond,
a prairie wolf sat smiling
while a chipmunk and squirrel
played without fear at its feet.
A plump dove settled on its
white mangy head undisturbed
and the surrounding world seemed
caught in a gigantic gawk.
Later, it came to me, that I
had stumbled into the presence
of the peacable Kingdom.
       March  2014

This poem was a gift from one of my clergy colleagues among a group of local pastors we call "Da Group" for lack of anything better. We are made up of Lutherans, Roman Catholic, Disciples of Christ, Quakers and Methodist faith traditions. We meet monthly to share community, tell stories of ministry and support one another in countless ways. Unique personalities each, we have in common Christian faith and an intentional life of living that faith in response to God's love and grace.

Tom said his poem was inspired by my decision to commit to the pilgrimage to Santiago. It speakes well of the reality that each of us has all we need to experience the "peacable Kingdom" right where we are. So why go all the way across the sea, spend a relative fortune, learn a new language and culture, walk 500+ miles to say nothing of the miles walked in training. and risk failure?

The easy answer is I don't know. The deeper answer is that when God calls us to pilgrimage it always involves  something beyond ourselves and our present abilities. It requires total reliance upon and trust in God. At the same time, it requires full personal engagement in the journey with all that that entails. For it is not the destiantion that is important. Whether I arrive at Santiago, Spain or Glendale shopping center, the pilgrimage, the journey itself is where the life lessons come from. Maybe I'm drawn to Santiago because St James is the patron saint of knights and soldiers and my DNA was nurtured within a military life in the early years. Maybe I'm drawn to the El Camino because of the parallel pilgrimage my church is on, i.e. becoming a new church for the 21st century, with new vision, new life together, new ministries, new understandings of who we are as People of God. Both pilgrimages require reliance upon God, full engagement in the journey, adventure, courage and risk. Both have the naysayer and the Barnabas'. At the end of the day, perhaps all we can do is answer God's call with "here am I" and hold on tight for the experience of dead bones being made alive, lives molded and shaped in The potter's hands, and even resurrection itself.