Summer Journeys

Picture of "The Way" accessed through On Being website

Many of us will go on a trip this summer--on vacation, or to visit family, or to be with good friends. That means trips to the beach, or to the mountains, or other places. Some will have a "staycation," and get some stuff done around the house.  And the children will, of course, get to enjoy some pool and play time.A summer trip has a beginning, and an end. A journey? Well, it's hard to pin a journey down in that way. We do begin our earthly journeys when we are conceived, spend (about) nine months inside a human mother's body, and then emerge to take our first breaths in "this" part of existence.So there is a physical, human journey. Yet there is also a spiritual one, and this kind of journey takes some meandering paths, some dead ends, some detours that we never imagined. Recently, I received a manuscript, all typed in capital letters, written by a great-uncle of mine. He was born in 1897, and according to this manuscript, he was eighty and "nearly blind." It seems as if he had a wonderful imagination, as I cannot imagine that all of his tales are true. But the ones of my ancestors crossing a mountainous terrain with wagons, with only the ill and children riding, and forging their own trail (none visible) was compelling. He told of one man who had gone on ahead two years earlier, but none of them had any idea whether that man had lived, or died. And I could almost feel the disappointment when the group ended up not in the west, as they had hoped, but north, in Kentucky.

Photo by Stefan Steinbauer on Unsplash

You may ask, "How did people not know in which direction they were headed?" A good Boy or Girl Scout would have figured that out. (See where the sun is!) Yet it sounds like the dense growth and forest cut out much of the sunlight, and I suspect that without the help of Native Americans (one of whom was a common-law wife of my great-grandfather), they would have died. I can only imagine what a journey they took. What a difficult, demanding one it was.This week, I was listening to Krista Tippett's podcast of "On Being." This podcast was her interview with the actor Martin Sheen, who has a long and distinguished career in movies and television. (Some Education for Ministry folks may well remember our winter Saturday session several years ago when we watched the movie "The Way," and did a theological reflection on it.) He also starred in "The West Wing" on TV.I knew that Emilio Estevez, his son, was in "The Way" with his father. What I did not know is that his wife of many years was one of the producers of the movie, and that before this, the Cathedral in Santiago had never allowed a movie crew inside that cathedral to film. What swayed them? The fact that Ramon Antonio Gerardo Estevez (AKA Martin Sheen) is part Spanish and part Irish. Moreover, he is a devout Christian and a devout and practicing Roman Catholic.If you have ever watched "The Way," you know what a powerful chronicle of a journey it is. The only way you walk "the Camino de Santiago" is to do it. To put one foot in front of the other. To look at the beauty around you. To go deep in yourself and reflect about what is important in life. To walk with others who are going that way with you. And each pilgrim is different, learning something that the next person does not learn. Yet there is also learning from their encounters with the others on that way.This summer, I invite you to watch this movie at some point, and think about where you are in your own spiritual journey. What have you learned? What is still missing in your soul? What kind of healing do you need, and where might that healing balm be?If you would like to listen to Krista's interview with Martin Sheen, it is here: https://onbeing.org/programs/martin-sheen-spirituality-of-imagination-2/  The edited version is less than an hour, so you could listen as you commute to work. Or you could listen as you take a walk.If you are in town, I also invite you to come to worship on Sunday morning. I continue to preach on the Old Testament book of Genesis, and this Sunday, I wrestle with a very difficult text: the Binding of Isaac. Many questions. Few answers. Come and listen. Think with me. Get some peace and quiet in your week and have a few minutes to breathe and not do anything except. . .to be on your journey with a few other seekers. ~Sheila