- Education Forums
We Are In This Pilgrimage Together
Dear Trinity Church & friends,
Grace and Peace to you from God in Christ! I pray this message finds you well as the Church readies for the Paschal Triduum, set to begin this evening.
As this message arrives in your inbox, I am on the road, minding a mobile Holy Week and remembering a coffee I shared with a parish newcomer some years ago. In the course of our cups, he shared his story, and I shared mine, and (with some intensity) he explained that he preferred the language of “pilgrimage,” as opposed to “journey,” when describing his life’s experiences.
Nosing around their respective etymologies, I learned that “journey” derives from the Old French journée, meaning a routine “day’s work or travel.” Alternatively, the tripartite “pilgrimage” comes from the Latin: per, meaning “beyond;” agri, meaning “country;” and aticum, meaning “belonging to.” Collectively, “pilgrimage” connotes an event belonging to an experience “beyond one’s home,” intimating the expected trials and joys of such an endeavor: getting lost, being surprised, worrying about what the next bend in the road will bring, and anticipating the excitement around the corner after that.
As Holy Week pilgrims, we can reimagine our life’s trials and trespasses as formational moments, when our need of God becomes clearly present, and when we might relent of our prideful notions of self-sufficiency. Rather than being defined by the world’s despair, then, we discover Grace and define ourselves by God’s hope. Moreover, we see ourselves not as independent, but as interdependent, mutually supported and supporting in the family of God. We are in this pilgrimage together, and – when our Friday’s darkness gives way to Sunday’s brightness – we share the joy of that recognition with a kindred community of faith.
As I now prepare for a season in which my family and I will be the newcomers to Trinity’s kindred community, know that we will arrive as a loving pilgrims, eager to spend time and share cups with you. While none of us can know what the next bend in the road might bring, I am carrying with me the conviction – with some intensity – that it will be our Easter God who meets us there.
In prayer, and, soon, in person,
The Rev. Morgan S. Allen
Rector
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- July 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- October 2013
- September 2013
At "Educational Forums," enrich your spiritual journey by exploring our resources including videos of lectures, essays by priests, and other pieces about our faith, our church, and what it means to be a disciple of Jesus in the 21st century.
Comments