Reflections From Our South Sound Pilgrimages

Dear Fellow Pilgrims,

When I invited the pastors from each co-op church to ask their respective churches to go on a walk with me in their neighborhoods as a practice of pilgrimage, there were many questions about what might come out of doing this. You might have had some of those questions as well: what is the point of doing this anyway? 

My answer, a bit frustrating, continues to be: I don’t know! I still think it is a faithful answer, because I didn’t know what we’d see in our neighborhoods. I didn’t know what we would smell or hear or experience. I didn’t know what we would be avoiding, or feeling, or delighting in. I truly didn’t know! To assume, and to offer an answer other than my unknowing would likely manipulate our experience of walking and noticing. 

Like any good spiritual practice, we miraculously show up, and God miraculously shows up too, opening a door into a room we could not have found ourselves. The same goes with pilgrimage. We can not know how the journey will form us. We may have a guess, but we may be wrong. The thing we can count on, when we show up to a spiritual practice, is that God will show up too, faithfully. And God showed up, along with you, in each of our neighborhoods! Hallelujah. 

Below, I’ve typed up what you noticed, avoided, delighted in, and found missing on our walks together! I still, with faith, don’t know what we will do with what we observed! And, I trust that your observations, your walking, your softened hearts, your full bellies, and your Holy Spirit empowerment will guide you to take your next faithful step. 

Thank you, friends, for being my fellow pilgrims, and going for a walk with me. It was (and is!) truly remarkable to journey alongside you! 

Hand in hand,
Pastor Alexa

Click here to view our reflections from the road.