Pilgrim Series: Part 2--Jacob A series following a Biblical persons who were displaced sojourners along the wandering way.
Pilgrims on the Way
Part 1: Jesus
This series is a repost of four stories I wrote after transitioning from life in China to America.
I struggled with a sense of displacement, not having a place to call home. This led me to noticing displacement as a common theme in the Bible–a distinct characteristic of the Christian journey.
I am resharing them as I prepare to launch my new Advent prayer guide, which is all about the journey to Jesus.
In this series I look at Jesus’, Ruth’s, Jacob’s, Daniel’s and John’s pilgrim life. Though there are many more in scripture who wandered along the way, each longing for home, I am only highlighting these few. I hope you enjoy these stories, find your own story within them. It’s a simple reminder we are all pilgrims along the way, but we never journey alone.
The Life of an Alien
Parts of me had to become dormant after leaving Asia. My experiences, effort it took to adopt Chinese life and culture, my stories all fell to the wayside. Not because I wanted to stuff them away, but because they were foreign to my new neighbors. To fit in, I had to let go, and become what others oculd comprehend and accept.
Don’t get me wrong, living as a foreigner in China was the same. Daily subjection to pointing, fumbling through a new language to buy groceries, adopting new habits to be socially acceptable and make friends, this is all part of cross cultural integration. The irony of cross cultural living is that at some point you become a foreign person to all places, and people, and no place is truly ever home, even the one you were born in.
The person within becomes a wanderer, having no native home. On the outside I appeared to be the same person who left America ten years earlier, but in reality I’d since shed my skin and had grown into an entirely new person, formed in a new land and by new customs. Like a snake I sheds my scales to fit a new way of being, and one can’t go back into the old form, it just doesn’t fit anymore. I transformed into a new creature. The only way forward, was to shed again. Transformation is an ever progressing movement toward change.
Jesus wandered as an alien
Jesus did this too. He stepped down from light into darkness, the cosmos into dirt, divinity into humanity. He’s the ultimate example of a cross-cultural experience. God enfleshed into a culture, shape, and way of being that was not natural to him. The creator becomes the created. And this land was definitly not his home.
Jesus morphed to become like us, for us. He came to open our hearts and eyes to his homeland–our OG way of being. In this process, he kept part of himself stored in the recesses of his soul; dormant. Hidden from the world because it was more than we could comprehend or accept. He could only reveal his true nature in stages through stories, exampled living, and eventually his death and resurrection. Even then, many did not accept him. His existence caused dissension. Though Jesus created the foundations of all created matter, he remained a foreigner in the land of his own making. Jesus knows what is means to be an alien.
Living in a transient state like this can be frustrating. Jesus scolded the people in the book of Luke, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you?” (Luke 9: 41) He longed to connect with his people, yet for them, the differences were too great.
He was desperate for his disciples to ‘get it’ after living so closely. Jesus sacrificed everything to show them the way home. His efforts to heal, perform miracles, share parables, and teach continued to fall on deaf ears. All he wanted was to be understood, to be loved and seen; known and accepted.
It is a heart-breaking feeling to watch those around you look at you with blank stares or confusion because they don’t understand where you are coming from, or can’t get past what feels different than what they are comfortable with in relationship. The feeling of otherness pierces the soul.
When I started learning Mandarin, I quickly realized even the dogs understood more of what was going on than I did. Exasperated by my inability to communicate my needs, feelings or wants in my environment became tiresome. I assuredly thought returning to the U.S. would be easier because I could finally speak in my heart language without fumbling. Surprisingly, that was untrue. Because I’d been existing in an unfamilar way to my native Americans, I again lost my voice. When people asked me questions I struggled to answer for fear of answering wrong or in a way that didn’t make sense.
Jesus' Pilgrimage
Jesus lived his life on the road. Joseph and Mary were journeying when Jesus entered the world in the most inconvenient way. Can you imagine having your first baby in the middle of a trip, without your go bag?
Not long after his birth, the family fled in exile for fear of Herod’s desire to murder their child, whom they knew was the son of God. For years, Jesus grew up in Egypt before he returned to his family’s home country. I wonder how this young boy acclimated into the small town. Did he struggle to make friends? Did people make fun of him? Then at some point, we know Joseph dies. How long did he grow up without a father? By the time he starts his ministry, his life has had many ups and downs.
When the time had come, Jesus set out in his sandals, and walked. He gathered those he needed, focused his heart on prayer and discerning the Father’s will, and served where he was led. But in all this, he never had a place to lay his head, a home to rest, or a town that welcomed him as their own. Jesus was ever the alien, even unto death.
Following Jesus along the way
Can you recall a time you felt alien, or like you just didn’t fit in? Perhaps you’ve moved to a new town, school as a child, or transferred jobs. What about as a Christian? Do you ever sense that feeling deep inside that something is still missing? A longing you can’t quite pinpoint?
Jesus knew he was never quite home. (John 13:3) He knew his time on earth, with us, was temporal, but a necessary part of the journey into eternity, with us.
Our Christian journey always follows the person of Jesus. That means, we too are ever displaced, wandering, and pilgrimaging until we are at home with him. He’s our example and our Good Shepherd, guiding us on how to live, be, and move about this earth that is just not quite home yet.
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