By Jim Hunter

A lot of questions come at you post-pilgrimage. The easy ones are asked by polite friends that want you to know they noticed you were gone for a bit. “Have a good time? Glad you went?” Easy. “I had a wonderful time. I’m very glad I went.”

Some of the questions are harder. “Why did you go?” Hmm. “Simply put, I went because I felt called. I believe that pilgrimage is a spiritual practice that helps one on the path of transformation. I am hoping my going will help me along that path.” That answer requires a little unpacking but it is a conversation I can handle.

The hardest questions come from fellow pilgrims, “How are things post-pilgrimage? How do you think it changed you?” Questions like that require some soul searching or else you risk having been on a cool trip and not a pilgrimage.

Part of me always feels like I ought to be able to say, “Things are awesome, transformation is nearly complete, and I am walking in love so deeply that people are constantly commenting on my glowing countenance.” Of course folks would notice that I am not glowing and they would be disappointed to think that I am modeling nearly complete transformation. The honest answer, even months after my journey, is that I am still processing. It is still life and things still happen a step at a time, sometimes three steps forward and two steps back.

Olaf from Frozen 2 says he does not understand enchanted forests, but knows they change you, and that resonates with my experience of pilgrimage. I do not understand the magic of traveling to thin places where we hear the sacred stories of fellow pilgrims and holy legends are born, but I do know they change you.

If pushed, I can own being a little more aware, a little more peaceful during stressful times, and seeing the path that calls me with more clarity. I can also testify that after stepping into the unknown, working through fears, physical dings, and interpersonal stresses, one returns home a little more able to love freely and live authentically. That is not a small thing.

On a practical level, pilgrimage offers a pattern that can be adopted in our so-called real life. On pilgrimage you rise with thanksgiving, enjoy breakfast, and worship before heading out into the day. During the day you pay attention to the wonder around you, you honor the Christ in creation and others you meet along the way, you figure it out if you get lost, and, at day’s end, you smile when you see your fellow pilgrims. In the evening, you share from your heart and listen closely as they share from theirs. Rest and repeat.

Back home you realize that you can rise with thanksgiving, enjoy breakfast, and worship before heading out to work, school, chores, or Walmart. You can remind yourself to be aware of the wonder around you and honor the Christ in all. If you get lost, you will figure it out and get back on the path. Late in the day you smile when you see your family, your dog, or maybe you call a friend, sharing from your heart and listening closely to see if you can hear theirs. Pilgrimage, all the time, everywhere.

I am still processing, both my trip to Iona in 2018 and the walk on the Camino de Santiago in October 2019. I will say this, a day in heaven could be worse than waking, praying, walking, perhaps through an enchanted forest, and then being warmly greeted by friends and surrounded by love at a bountiful table.