Being the Beloved - A Monthly Blog from CFDM Northwest
By Rev. Mona Chicks, CFDM Northwest Co-Director/Director of Spiritual Formation Program
“Your feet will bring you to where your heart is.” (Irish Proverb)
I love to wander, whether it’s along the city streets on a rainy day, or out in the mountains along a dirt path, there is something sacred about wandering without a goal. It allows me to engage with the “this” place, rather than focusing on the destination. It draws my attention to each step along the path, to the process rather than the result. It draws my attention to God’s presence in the stones under my feet, the trees offering me shade, or the person crossing the street with a scowl on their face.
Many of the early Christians in Ireland and Scotland knew this, and they dedicated themselves to wandering as their spiritual pilgrimage, called peregrinato. This was no pilgrimage like those we have associated with places like Santiago de Compostela or even the Isle of Iona. This was a pilgrimage with no destination, seeking to find “the place of one’s resurrection” – to find Jesus – in a place as unique as the individual. With no map to follow, the path draws us away from what is safe and known, into what is unknown and where safety is of no concern. Some Celtic monks would jump into a boat with no oar or rudder, trusting God to lead them to where God wanted them to be. It is the model of Abraham– “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8)
It's not always comfortable to have no identifiable destination. For several years I have felt like I was wandering in a wilderness without a discernable path. With the mission God had given me many years before still burning in my heart, but with no identifiable way to inhabit it fully, I felt adrift with no oars. But along the way, I discovered that I had company on this journey, and that the map – though unknown and unseen by me - was firmly in God’s grip. Along the way God led me to CFDM, and now a new chapter of this journey is opened to me as I have begun my tenure as Director of Spiritual Formation Programs. I still wander, but I can see God’s leading in the midst of the unknown. It is peregrinato, a wandering but never fully without guide.
J.R.R. Tolkien said, “All who wander are not lost.” This is the essence of peregrinato, wandering for the sake of seeking God in the here and now. Whether your wandering is literally along a unbeaten path on a forest ridge seeking God through God’s creation, or is seeking God in the moments of a busy life, you can find peace in knowing that God is in your midst. We, too, are the peregrinato in this world, wanderers in sacred space.
Want to know more, or discover ways to incorporate peregrinato and other Celtic tools into your spiritual journey? Join us for a mini-retreat, “Wholly God: What we can learn from the Celtic way with God” on Sat, Jun 11 from 9am-1pm at St. Mary’s in Bellevue. More information and registration is here: https://www.cfdmnorthwest.org/spiritual-formation-retreat-june-2022
What books, media, activities are nurturing your heart, soul, mind, strength in this season as we are loving God and our neighbor as ourselves? Post in the comments below or hop on over to our Facebook page and share with one another.