Praying with Our Feet

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As an English major in college, I learned that much literature has a journey motif. Think of the Canterbury Tales where pilgrims are en route to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket and Huck Finn floating on the Mississippi with Jim. Journeys also mark our spiritual history. God sent seventy-five-year-old Abraham from Ur to Canaan and later sent his descendants on a forty-year journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. Luke built his gospel around a journey theme, following Jesus as he makes his way from Nazareth to Jerusalem. For centuries Christians have embarked on pilgrimages—spiritual journeys. The preeminent pilgrimage is the journey to Jerusalem, which saints like Ignatius and Francis of Assisi made number one on their bucket list. There the faithful walk the Way of the Cross in the footsteps of Jesus. Perhaps the second most famous pilgrimage is the Camino de Santiago de Compestelo, the one to St. James shrine in Spain. I know someone who returned from that pilgrimage a changed person. Recently Martin Sheen starred in a movie about the pilgrimage to Campestelo called appropriately "The Way." Catholics make a pilgrimage to Rome. For our Muslim brothers and sisters, making a journey to Mecca is one of the mandatory five pillars of their faith. But we needn't cross an ocean to pray with our feet. Click to continue

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