Who is a Pilgrim?

You. Me. 

As Americans when we see the word pilgrim we immediately think of the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock and Thanksgiving all in association with a group of Puritan settlers in search of religious freedom. In other religious contexts we think of pilgrimages: a journey of one person to a holy place such as Jerusalem or Mecca—a sacred trip towards the holiest of places denying oneself of luxuries to find humility, truth and a spiritual experience. Another facet of a pilgrim lies in being a foreigner. I believe more and more of us can identify with living a transient lifestyle. Displacement, globalization, war,  or the opportunity for capitalistic gain are all reasons for our pilgrimages today causing us to live a seemingly foreign lifestyle. The pilgrim finds purpose whilst in the course of life’s meandering. A purpose unveiled while in the search for spirituality or God’s will for one’s life.

Pilgrims wander and experience homelessness. Life affords each of us moments in which we’ve felt homelessness or at least like we are wandering aimlessly. There’s an undercurrent in our being that reverberates a message that we are not in our native habitat. We are born into this world as orphans until God adopts us into his family—giving us status; identity. Yet we are prone to wander until we reach our native home. Thankfully through our adoption, we do not wander alone. 

This general state of homelessness is in the midst of what I call the long wait. We pilgrims are a waiting people. We are not yet arrived nor where we were created to live. This spiritual unrest is the beauty of the pilgrim’s life because in the instability of it we press forward in hope holding loosely to what is perishable while seeking truth and investing in eternal matters (i.e. people’s lives) while we wait. This long wait is the active business of us pilgrims.

HOW DID I BEGIN TO IDENTIFY MYSELF AS A PILGRIM?

I’ve never been on a pilgrimage, nor do I plan to go. Seven years living in China this word-pilgrim-began to resonate with my soul. After the numerous times people yelled out the slang word for foreigner to me or my children while starring and pointing an uneasiness began to fester like a wound inside me. The scenario never ceased throughout the course of our stay. Feeling on the fringe and unaccepted jolted a shift in my identity; not only am I an outsider in a foreign land, I am an alien on this planet. I don’t belong.

Memories of old began to flash before me like a slide show at a wedding reminding me of countless times when I didn’t quite fit in. Being slow to learn, it took landing in another country where I stood out like a flamingo in a group of pigeons to see the truth. The moment God called me out to be his child, I became a wanderer. 

Most of us can identify with feeling like we don’t fit in—like you might have been adopted because you’re nothing like your siblings, or school put you in a box, being misunderstood by friends, the inability to settle.  Racism, sexism, religious persecution, displacement have all reeked havoc of our personhood. Our identity is no longer clear-cut.  Deep within the beating of our pulse there is a quiet, repetitive noise of “I don’t belong here.” As a Christian these thoughts drove me to one conclusion—I am a guest visiting this place for a while. I’ve been created for a place, but not this one. After years of missed or delayed flights, this is one trip in which my discontent with the travel itinerary is justified because I am not yet arrived at my final destination: I am in the middle of a long wait . A wait often scattered with potholes of disappointment, bridges of suffering, pain, brokenness hills of shattered dreams, hurt, disappointment and dark underpasses of depravity and sin. 

As I have been learning, the perspective of the pilgrim sees these traveling hiccups but presses on in the journey because she knows these hardships are enriched by the byproducts. When we cross the bridge there may be a friend waiting to join us on the journey, beyond the dark forest lies a field of poppies to brighten our day. The joy of sojourning in faith is hope of healing, salvation and new life until the day we arrive in our native home.

In the book, The Way of the Pilgrim, by an anonymous Russian monk, the first paragraph spoke to my soul. 

“By the grace of God I am a Christian man, by my actions a great sinner, and by calling, a homeless wanderer of the humblest birth who roams from place to place. My worldly goods are a knapsack with some dried bread in it on my back, and in my breast pocket a Bible. And that is all.” 

The Way of the Pilgrim and the Pilgrim Continues his Way, translated from Russian by R.M. French  Click for the book.

The beauty of this quote lies in the matter-of-factness of his perspective on life. He knows his truest identity in Christ, lives devoutly, pursues the journey and holds lightly to the things of this world that fade. On his path, he encounters relationships that challenge, enrich and enliven his pilgrim lifestyle as he seeks to learn the meaning of praying without ceasing. 

My pilgrimage was realized through moving place-to-place among transient communities following God’s will for my life. Yours might be different. What revealed to me that my journey is not yet over happened when my family returned Stateside after years abroad, but not to my hometown. The first question I’d be asked was, “Aren’t you glad to be home?” My reply, “I don’t know, I’m not home yet.”

THE PILGRIM THRIVES IN COMMUNITY.

Pilgrim can allude to living a life of solitude. Wandering along on one’s own. For some a pilgrimage may definitely need to be one of solace, however, I have found that as we journey our paths collide with others who will sow into our lives and help us to develop. One aspect of Asian lifestyle that I grew to appreciate was communal living. Though hard for us westerners due to its intrusiveness, it can be quite soul-filling. The busyness of outdoor courtyards at night— dance music blasting from a loudspeaker while ladies line-dance with fans next to an older gentleman playing the Chinese-stringed erhu while a woman sings out a Chinese opera song into a karaoke machine whilst toddlers race around on toy Mercedes Benz and Hummers. There is no room for solitude on certain journeys. God’s unique design entails being made for others and to enjoy their company. God made Adam then gave Adam the gift of Eve so as to not be lonely. God’s intentions unravel in the messiness of relationships. 

During one season of our lives, our home became a guesthouse for those traveling through our Chinese city. Our family hosted missionaries, tourists, youth volunteers over their summer break and others from around the globe. Our children learned geography by engaging with fellow pilgrims who chose to follow their path that happened to lead through our door. They shared both the joys and sadness of their stories enriching our lives along the way.

We are created for relationship. Relationships are the messy, beautiful detours in our journey. As pilgrims, I hope we can find kinship souls so as to spur each other on toward home and our intended identity. 

I invite you to take up your knapsack and wander this elaborately created planet with me and others. To take the detours alongside other sojourners and find gems of truth along the wandering way.