A Pilgrim Returns

Six days ago, I prayed while standing in the 25,000-seat theatre in Ephesus where the mob threatened St Paul and St Paul proclaimed the Good News. With my feet planted on the floor of the theatre, I could look up at the hill toward the ruins of the prison where they held him those days.

Five days ago I prayed at the tomb of St John the Apostle, in the ruins of St John's basilica, on a hill overlooking Ephesus, the same hill on which he wrote most of his Gospel.

Four days ago I prayed in a camii (Turkish mosque) in Selcuk, Turkey, just down the hill from St John's tomb. The imam demonstrated Muslim chant for me, and I demonstrated Anglican chant for him. When we left, he and I blessed and kissed one another, Turkish style. I found that surprisingly moving, but doubt that it will catch on among American Episcopalians.

Three days ago, I prayed in this (click here) Greek Orthodox Church (the Church of the Holy Apostles) erected at the base of the Acropolis and foot of Mars Hill where St Paul proclaimed the Unknown God and the risen Jesus to the Athenians. This church has the most amazing acoustics I've ever experienced in a church building. It was clearly designed for chant. Were I to preside at worship in such a building, I'd chant everything.

Two days ago I prayed in the St Faith's Chapel Westminster Abbey, London during the service of Morning Prayer. The chapel in which we prayed was composed of a multitude of stone Gothic arches. For those who know the spiritual symbolism of such architecture, the visual experience is overwhelmingly powerful.

Yesterday I wasted time at an American car repair shop and today I'm working through voice and email messages at home. Obviously my spiritual life evaporated as soon as I crossed the border back into the United States.

Imagine two semesters of graduate level theology courses crammed into 2 weeks! It was incredible and I'm still putting it together. It will take me a long time to integrate and assimilate all we experienced, saw, and learned.

My middle daughter was a terrific companion for the journey. In Rome, on the Feast of the Assumption of St Mary, we attended a noonday Eucharist at Santa Maria Maggiore where St Jerome is buried. Afterward, at the Coliseum, we read Ignatius' letter to the Romans. We wandered past the arch of Constantine to the arch of Titus, depicting the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the carrying off the Temple's massive menorah. We marveled at Michelangelo's powerful statue of Christ in the basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva (which is supposed to have displaced a temple to Minerva), around the Pantheon, and across the Tyber toward St Peter's. All the way, we talked about the symbolic meaning of religious architecture, and she related her favorite spiritual book, the book that makes God make sense to her. Late in the day we visited the Pieta and St Peter's tomb inside the massive St Peter's basilica. And all of this was just the first day. This day would pale when compared to our experiences and what we would see in "the second Holy Land," Turkey.

Members of St Marks will enjoy experiencing a pilgrimage to these sacred places at some time in the future -- when we plan a "kinder, gentler" congregation-friendly version, perhaps as soon as a year or two. Two backpackers roughing it across Europe and the Middle East is not quite the experience that others might appreciate! I can easily imagine how some would respond to the overnight bus trips, the absence of beds and showers, the endless treks, the resulting blisters on top of our blisters, the relentless heat, the other backpackers stumbling into our hostel dorms in the middle of the night, the total lack of privacy, and the 4-days on a train, complete with border guards waking us several times a night in the middle of the nights to check our passports and to search for contraband and especially our sorting through sticky, damp, clothes to find which ones smelled the least horrible to wear for the 2nd or 3rd time because there was no running water on the train to wash them out. Rachel and I found all of this adventurous and exciting -- and adding to our experience, but some in our congregation would most likely end up in prison for murder of their pastor were I to subject them such a set of experiences.

For a map of the pilgrimage, and slide shows of what we saw, go to rlaribee.com/pilgrimage/.

If you'd like to come with us on our kinder, gentler (not roughing it, not backbacking!) congregational pilgrimage in 2007 or 2008, send me an email.

The Lord be with you!