What I mean by the not so faint of heart is that this blog is lengthy. So, please, my dear Siestas, don’t get ticked at me and tell me how long it is. If you aren’t interested in reading a long post, just skip to the latter half of the blog and you’ll get the basic drift. I just got my April 2009 Christianity Today in the mail and the title “He Talked to Us on the Road: The Surprising Rewards of Christian Travel” (written by Ted Olsen) immediately caught my eye. Let me tell you, Ted Olsen works it in this staunch article. He had my mind going about a million different directions.
The beginning of the cover story begins with a quote by Martin Luther in the year 1520 “All pilgrimages should be done away with…For there is no good in them, no commandment, but countless causes of sin and of contempt of God’s commandments. These pilgrimages are the reason for there being so many beggars, who commit numberless villainies.” (qtd. on page 23). In typical Luther fashion, he states his opinion in the most absolute form possible, but it is significant that he relents a little bit by then going on to say, as Olsen points out: “I say this not because pilgrimages are bad but because they are ill-advised at the time” (24).
Just in case you are type-a… Dictionary.com (since we are all about the world wide web in the blogsphere) defines a pilgrimage as “a journey, especially a long one, made to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion”.
So far, we are here: Luther says there is nothing good in a pilgrimage, not because a pilgrimage is in itself a bad thing, but because within his own historical context they were more than unhelpful, for they even led some to sin. I just want to get off track and paint a picture for you a little bit- Luther was faced with serious stuff. For instance, he was dealing with the likes of Johann Tetzel who was arguably the most “brilliant” seller of indulgences. Some might argue that he would fit quite well in our modern-day American economic system. Tetzel had systematic programs to lure people into buying indulgences and these programs often incorporated relics- for example, the bones of various saints or martyrs. These relics were collected and believed by the masses to be salvifically efficacious- like they could release souls from purgatory, or at least limit the horrific sentence. Carter Lindberg in The European Reformations, explains well how serious the situation was in Luther’s time: “The very effort of late medieval theology and pastoral practice to provide security only led an insecure world to more insecurity and uncertainty about salvation…The Christian’s life of pilgrimage toward the heavenly city was increasingly perceived, literally and not just theologically, as an economy of salvation…This theology, however, enhanced the crisis because it threw people back upon their own resources. That is, no matter how grace-assisted their good works, the burden of proof for these works feel back upon the performers, the more sensitive of whom began asking how they could know if they had done their best” (Lindberg, 60). I think Lindberg paints the picture well. Let me summarize this: Common folk, like you and me, who knew how jacked up they really were began to feel relieved that someone out there could help them on what seemed to be an impossibly harsh spiritual quest. So when Tetzel and others like him would offer the means of salvation through various relics, they were overwhelmingly grateful.
Martin Luther who was a professor in Wittenberg went to a church whose Prince (Frederick the Wise) had gathered within it one of the largest relic collections in the area, supposedly 19,000 pieces- for example, there were apparently pieces of the burning bush… milk from Mary (um…that is so so gross)… all the way to a piece from Jesus’ very crib (see Carter Lindberg, The European Reformations, 61). Interestingly enough, Prince Frederick the Wise forbid Johann Tetzel to enter Wittenberg with all of his relics and indulgences because Frederick with his own tail on the line “did not want competition for his own relic collection with its associated indulgences” (The European Reformations, 75). But, the really astonishing part is that “Luther’s parishioners overcame this inconvenience by going out to Tetzel” (Lindberg, 75).
Well, of course, Luther was horrified when his parishioners returned and said they no longer needed confession, penance, and the mass because now they had tickets to heaven (Lindberg, 75). Now, this is a serious pastoral dilemma. Especially if you’re one of the few people in the world at the time who could actually read Greek and Hebrew, and therefore knew these behaviors were out of the bounds of Scripture. What was all the more sickening was that most of the people who bought these indulgences were peasants who didn’t have the money to spare in the first place. These supposed tickets to heaven often took advantage of the poorest. At the end of the day, Luther simply despised the thought of a person trying to attain salvation through various human strategies- whether these strategies were pilgrimages, indulgences, etc. So you get the point…Luther was obviously justified in his day for being opposed to pilgrimage…but now I am being redundant and annoying.
But now back to the article in Christianity Today– Olsen switches the focus from Luther’s own historical situation to our modern horizon. He says simply but powerfully, “The time has changed.” So often we have a hard time understanding that what is right for one generation of Christians may not necessarily be right for another. For example, the earliest Christians worshipped in the Synagogue. But, that doesn’t mean that we should leave our churches and head to our local synagogues. In the same vein, what was right for the peasants in Wittenberg is not necessarily right for all of us, because, as Olsen said, the time has changed. I think this is why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to guide us in wisdom and knowledge. But moving right along. Olsen quotes Luther scholar Graham Tomlin saying, “It’s been possible after several centuries to disentangle pilgrimage from the works righteousness that Luther so disapproved of, so that now Protestants can go on pilgrimages –though most often, they don’t call them that- without any sense that they are earning God’s favor for doing so,” (24). Graham Tomlin (not Chris Tomlin!) says that for most people, the pilgrimages are like study tours or holidays with a spiritual dimension (24). But pilgrims are not mere ‘tourists’ but set off with the intention to experience the divine. And I LOVE what Olsen goes on to say: “Fewer pilgrims today travel in order to escape punishment for their sins, but the temptation to spiritual pride on such journey is strong as ever. Religious travel has thrown a kind of spiritual trump card on the table. An eagerness for such distinction misses how manufactured the quest for “authentic” spiritual experience on the road can be, or how transformative an organized excursion can become” (25).
Have you ever noticed this phenomenon? It’s like in the movie Mona Lisa Smile when they are horrified that Julia Roberts’ character claims to be a professor of art even though she has never seen the Sistine Chapel. We see this often in our own worlds as well- if a Christian hasn’t been to Jerusalem then he or she has a two-dimensional vision of the biblical text while those who have had this privilege may as well be wearing three-dimensional Scripture goggles. I wish they could just bring us all a pair home, ya know? It would be a heck of a lot cheaper. Well, even though this appears to be an annoying contemporary struggle we sometimes encounter…it shouldn’t keep us from setting out on ‘pilgrimage’, for as Olsen says, “We are not just minds created to soak up knowledge. We are bodies that stand in one place at a time, seeing and feeling our surroundings” (26).
This article bring us the best of both worlds, for it elevates the significance and rewards of Christian travel while also stressing the importance of our homes and local churches, which are equally as holy. Graham Tomlin says: “Pilgrimages, just like Christian conferences, can also lead to disparagement of the local in favor of the big and global. But if they lead to rediscovery of Jesus, the incarnate Word, they can lead to a renewed appreciation of the ordinary people and places that make up real live churches. At least, well-led pilgrimages, and conferences can do that” (29). I just love that. Believe me, I am a huge conference fan. I have been to Moody’s Founder’s Week conferences, Passion conferences and even Living Proof Live conferences and gone out with revitalized energy for God more times than I can count. There is just something so wonderfully overwhelming about worshipping with a vast gathering of believers. I think that is the point- conferences are great when they stimulate fresh passion for Christ and then cause us each to go back to our local communities and churches with a renewed fervor but NOT when they make us unhappy and dissatisfied with our local churches. The same goes for pilgrimages. We don’t go to the island of Patmos to see where John penned the book of Revelation to get a spiritual fix so that we come back home where we are bored with our little town and church up the road. We go for a unique spiritual experience that will enhance the life and community to which we are journeying back.
Olsen’s essay goes out with a serious bang, for he says: “Those who best journey today may not be those who are talking about their trips to Jerusalem, or to Iona, or to Santiago…They are probably those who talk about living and ministering in Overland Park or Beacon Hill. Those who are thinking about the space they inhabit as holy land. Those who have returned from Emmaus and understand that God doesn’t only meet us on the road. Theirs is the God who said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them.” A God who travels. And a God who dwells. A God who has made the whole world his holy land because he has made his people a holy people.” (29)
One of the reasons this article resonated with me is because I went on a spiritual pilgrimage the summer of 2004 when I was at Moody Bible Institute (which we indeed called a “study tour”) with the aim of tracing the European Reformers. It was life changing for me. We studied the English Reformation in England, the German/Lutheran Reformation in Wittenberg, Calvin’s Reformation in Geneva, and the Swiss Reformation begun by Zwingli in Zurich and the Anabaptist Reformations thereafter, and then we ended with the Catholic Counter-Reformation taught straight from Vatican Square. That trip was supposed to be all about me learning about church history- and I did- but more significantly, it was during that trip that I felt turmoil in my heart over a relationship I was in. An engagement, actually. Surely enough, we broke up the day I returned from the trip. I had barely even gotten off the plane. The Lord, rich in mercy, and slowly but surely, through several various awe-inspiring moments during the course of that trip, planted courage in my heart to prepare mentally for the end of a relationship that I knew was going to be one of the most excruciating emotional seasons of my life.
Another equally life-changing moment for me on that trip took place in a little church outside of Berlin. A small church was hosting us for a few days before we traveled elsewhere and we stayed right there on the church property. And when I say small, I mean, like I think there were thirty to fifty people in the church. The church in Germany, at least generally speaking, is persecuted socially. Not physically, buy socially. Christians really aren’t super cool in Germany. Kids apparently don’t sport the WWJD bracelets there in hopes to obtain positive attention. The particular church we were staying with was struggling emotionally and financially but they showed us hospitality that I have rarely experienced in the States. They invited us to join in a worship service with them and I will never forget one of the songs that we sang. It was “Shine, Jesus, Shine” by Graham Kendrick. You’ve probably heard it before. The chorus goes like this:
Shine, Jesus, shine
Fill this land with the Father’s glory
Blaze, Spirit, blaze
Set our hearts on fire
Flow, river, flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth your word
Lord, and let there be light.
And I sat weeping in the back of the church. That little church sang that song like the eschaton was coming the very next day. Like the time was really near. It was just so pure and urgent. And I couldn’t stop crying. I had to excuse myself. I’ve only ever told one person this story. But here I am on a blog, about to tell all of you. This is why- because a small group of us snobby students, the intellectual types who would actually pay gobs of money to trace the European Reformations during our summer break, had just been mocking this very song a few days before. I am not exaggerating any of this; we were mocking that very song “Shine, Jesus, Shine” by Graham Kendrick. We were making comments about the lack of substance in the song and how catchy it was, and I don’t mean in a good way. I mean in a bad and processed cheese kind of way. Why? Because apparently we thought we were the sophisticated intellectual types with ears fit only for the lofty hymns and complex choral traditions that flow out of the hallowed halls of Westminster Cathedral. I mean we had in fact sat in on Evensong at that stately cathedral just days before, but never mind that most of us were well under twenty-two years old and had zero idea what were talking about, right?
Let me tell you. That song, “Shine, Jesus, Shine” brings tears to my eyes and chills up my spine every single time I hear it. That little church in Germany meant what they were singing. They needed Jesus to shine in their land and they needed the Spirit to blaze and at that moment that little church in Germany spoke louder to me than all the other enormous world-renowned churches that we had visited. I had spoken careless words and engaged in pompous banter and the Lord kindly chastised this child of His in a way she would never forget. He made that ‘cheesy’ song come alive and dance with the depth and glory of a symphony. Calvin’s Church, St. Peter’s Basilica, Canterbury Cathedral, etc…well, I’m glad I saw them, but none of carved an entirely new contour on my heart like that little church outside Berlin.
Well before I say Hasta Luego, Siestas, just a couple more things:
First, check out the article by Ted Olsen in Christianity Today some time soon. Even though I didn’t attempt to summarize his article, I do admit that I did not even come close to capturing the entirety of his message. My blog is faux, so go get the real thing.
Second, I want some feedback on some of your travel experiences…is there a place where you experienced God’s presence in a unique and lasting way? A moment you have pondered in your heart until this very day? Talk to me, I want to hear about it. And if you haven’t been able to travel enough to satisfy you, where would you like to go? Is there a place with specific spiritual significance that you would like to set out…if you could?
Be blessed,
Melissa
P.S. The picture above is random, I know, but it actually really reminds me of my trip to Europe and all the amazing church art and stained glass we saw.
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I attended a small Baptist university in Texas. Amazingly, where I always met a very real God was in the Episcopal chapel down the street that was left unlocked 24 hours a day for prayer. The presence of God was always there. It’s been 29 years since I graduated from college, but recently I went back for a visit. I made sure to stop and pray at that Episcopal chapel. Very different prayers than then ones I’d prayed at age 18,I’m sure! But guess what? The presence of God was still so real there that it enveloped me. That’s where I met Jesus on the road.
The Journey Continues ~
What a brilliant and lovely blog to return to with MAJOR JETLAG after traveling to England and France this past week!
"He Talked to Us on the Road" 🙂
It was a great read on the destination home bound! The surprising rewards of Christian Travel!!! ~ Shine Jesus Shine ~
Answer #2 question below
The Life of Christ Jesus was in my eyes and heart when I traveled several years ago to Paris,France and walked into Saint Chappelle. Stained Glass windows from Top to Bottom tell the HIStory of Genesis to Revelation. I felt the presence of HIS GLORY!
A MUST for all that travel to Paris,France!!!
I was touched by another place called the Collosseo = Coliseum ~
Rome, Italy. The Most stunning Roman ampitheater. In AD 80 Titus organized 100 days of celebrations to marks its opening, costing the lives of 2,000 gladiators and 900 animals which seated 55,000 spectators all protected from the sun. I stood overlooking the arena with tears streaming down my face as I imagined the fear and pain of what took place. It brought me to realize the pain and suffering that Christ endured.
Sistine Chapel ceiling was another spot where art design within the hands of another (Michelangelo) brought Christ to LIFE in Artform. It took him 4 years to complete the masterpiece. I stood in Awww as I looked up and saw what he created!
The sandy beach on the Central Coast or the mountains is where HE touches me daily. When I hold a newborn baby, or look into the eyes of a child, or watch my two sons grow into the men I have prayed for,or kissed the lips of the man God brought into my life, or sitting quietly in the wee early morning of my home with a candle burning reading my LIFE MANUAL ~ THAT MY DEAR SIESTA IS THE BEST JOURNEY OF ALL!!!
THE BIBLE CAN TAKE YOU ON THE BEST JOURNEY OF YOUR LIFE!!!
JOURNEY & TRAVEL INTO THE WORLD OF CHRIST JESUS MY SIESTA"S!
With "Heaven Bound" Blessings along with JETLAG,
Kim Safina
http://www.kimsafinathejourneycontinues.blogspot.com
Hey…hope you are still checking comments. I finally read your blog article tonight. I saw it the other day, and just did not have time to read it all. (I wanted to read it when I could really have time to digest it.) Your thinking and writing reminds me a lot of my son (he is kind of like the geeky guy on Criminal Minds–It is a compliment; really)….anyway…I digress…The place for me is always the beach. One time I was out enjoying watching God “show off” and I was really enjoy my time with God, when he pointed out a small group of about 5 people, poorly dressed, about three feet into the ocean. Unbeknownst to anyone, they were having a baptism service…I mean NO ONE noticed. God just really pricked my heart to see things with “spiritual eyes” and not just as the world sees things. Too often I see my circumstances and I miss God right in front of me. It doesn’t matter where you are; it matters what you see.
Thanks for your post!!!
HI LAdies at Living Proof.
I am not at all sure I will be able to get to a computer for the next 4 days and so I was going to post my memory verse tonight while I have a computer hook up. We are travelling North again after having a lovely vacation, so if this can get put into the Memory verse day tomorrow I would sure appreciate it:
April 1st Memory Verse:
The Spirit Himself testifies without spirit that: We are God’s Children.
Romans 8:16 NIV
Iris Linkletter Enroute to Summerside P.E.Island Canada.
thanks again ladies.
I’ll say it time and time again, but you make me think and I love it. Thanks for taking the time out to share this with us! I’ll have to get my hands on that article.
After reading it, however, I have traveled a bit myself and been to some of the places you mentioned, and have even sung every song you mentioned, including Evensong with the choir I used to be in, however, it was none of those traveling times or singing times that struck me.
It was actually sitting, my senior year of high school, in my small group leaders apartment, and literally being so broken that I could not pull myself together to tell the girls all that was really going on inside of me. All the nasty, dirty, secret stuff I had never shared with anyone all came flooding out of my mouth. He met with me then and I can truly, and so can those girls, say that it was a life changing moment.
Then, once again in my apartment in good ole’ Huntsville, TX pleading with Him on the floor for my freedom.
So, I didn’t go anywhere to experience such brokeness and healing, but that by no means doesn’t mean I don’t love traveling. I would go back in a heartbeat to Europe, or any of the places you mentioned.
Have a great Tuesday, Melissa!
Lindsee
December 2002 – I moved to beautiful Thailand to homeschool missionary children. After spending the first few night with the missionary family, I moved into my own 2-story condo. I was alone – in a country where I couldn’t ask for help if I needed it, where I didn’t have a phone, none-the-less someone to call, where I was completely and totally alone. That first night, I didn’t sleep much as that unfamiliar sound of the Thai language from the neighbors partying next door filtered through my open windows, covered only with metal bars. I have never felt so lost, so alone, so terrified.
BUT, my gracious Father met me there! He knew exactly where I was, in the midst of these millions of strangers in a foreign land. I sat an empty chair next to my bed and left my Word opened on the pillow next to me. He was in my room. I wasn’t alone! Never before and never since have I felt His presence so intimately.
Thank you Father!
I thought our Christian life was a pilgrimage from here to our eternal home.
Sometimes I envy those who have, or chose to or feel free to spend their available finaces on some of the Christian trips I see advertised.
Somehow that topic did not come up and maybe I am taking it out of context but the paying of indugences somewhat links in my mind to all these wonderful Christian tours.
I agree, a conference can be a wonderful experience. Maybe I am blessed that it has not needed to be in a place more than a couple of hours from home. Yes if I were fitter I would be considering a missions trip where work was done with local Christians to build up that local church.
But in a world where so many are without sight, water, food can we be “carried to the skies on lofty beds of ease” or can we on our own personal pilgrimage send to those who have need and trust God to lead us into the experiences we need in the place He has placed us.
I enjoyed reading the article and probably many years ago when in the depths of study of Church history I could have been tempted to walk where they walked…..but somehow I believe I am tempted to walk my own pilgramage with my hand in that of the Shepherd.
Sorry but I am not sure I could see Him leading me on a cruise trip to study something wonderful.
He is wonderful, His word is wonderful. Do we need the trappings of the world in our pilgrimage. And yes, I know, we have always to walk that line of balance and can be caught in as many financially wasteful ways without so called pilgrimages, but that was how the article spoke to me.
Hey Melissa,
No profound thoughts to add from me… I just wanted to say thanks for being so transparent here. Your writing is building up the body – thanks for using the gift.
Tracey Knight
Mrs. Melissa, such a blessing to hear from you:):) I have had experiences like that. I have been blessed at my church to go on short-term mission trips most every yr. since salvation. It was such a switch for me to go from secular to spiritual living, and then the Lord blessed with amazing mission trips with my youth group. I remember being in youth choir, and also singing on trips for the local churches we came alongside and did vacation bible schools with. I think my most vivid mem. was singing “Amazing Grace” acapella with our group in the airport because we just wanted to-we were feeling so blessed that day…so, random breaking out of that song…when we were finished, I think the Lord used us to bless the people in the airport. I’ll never forget that:)
Love in HIM, mucho blessings, mucho ((HUGS))
katiegfromtennessee
My daughter and son in law are missionaries in the Middle East and on a trip to see them my daughter had a baby. She was not doing well so mama had to go over early and stay until the baby was born and my daughter had another surgery after the birth and I had to stay for that to take care of the grandbaby. To say things were tense would be an understatement. The place is “dark” anyway and it is not my home but I was in theirs and -well it was tense from time to time. One night I went up to the roof of the building they lived in. There was a swing up there and I took my bible and my pen and my paper and I took a “time- out” with Jesus! Sitting there looking over the city – I could see Jerusalam on the horizon – and I could hear the people of the city and the noises they make – laughter, horns blowing, guns going off, children playing, men with their “food carts” selling their goods, the call for prayer – which is beautiful btw – one dog barking on the roof across the street. MUCH going on and there I was sitting and seeing and hearing and the Lord began speaking to my heart about things that were important. Having my way in my son-in-laws home was not important. Having my way is not important. As a Christian, I have no rights. He wants me to just do what He says for me to do. To except and obey God and focus on what He wants me to do. When I gave up my rights and put them under the blood the only thing that mattered was “AM I living to please God? all relationships will find peace when we give up our right to be right! God taught me that and many other things that night – I stayed with Him a long time and then joined Him there each night for the rest of my visit in that country. I LOVED my time with Him there. So much of the things you see are reminders of Him in that country – He walked there with human feet and I walked where He actually walked and it was soooo amazing. I LOVE going to see my daughter and I love “borrowing” a roof from neighbors to sit on and talk to the Savior from that location. Jesus is Good and He is good ALL the time. Loved the post. You are a Blessing to your mama girl!!
My mother took the girls in our family to New York City this past Christmas to see the city during the holiday. One of the things she INSISTED we do is pay an obscene, and I do mean OBSCENE amount of money to see the “Christmas Spectacular” production at Radio City Music Hall. You know, the one with the Rockettes and ice rink that comes up from the bottom of the stage and the living nativity. Well, I thought that was pretty ridiculous and honestly, a little beneath me. I could think of about a million more “worthwhile” experiences for my children in New York City. But it was her trip and her dime so she could spend the money if she wanted and I would endure it. Truth be known, I thought it was going to be the cheesiest thing I had ever seen.
Well, there was some cheese. But at the end, after the living nativity, the whole building, and I mean, EVERYBODY in Radio City Music Hall stood and sang “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” and “Joy to the World.” Lines like:
“Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.”
“Let every heart prepare Him room, and Heaven and nature sing.”
And I am standing there, looking at all those people, thinking “What if all these people really understood what they were singing?” At that moment I leaned over to my sister-in-law and told her what I was thinking and she said she was thinking the same thing. So we just both prayed that they would. That somehow, somewhere everybody there would understand what they were singing. And in that moment God showed me how He was taking something so seemingly commercial and using it for His glory in a place that, it seems, is sometimes hard to find it.
And what if someone who didn’t get it before, somehow walked out getting it because of what they had seen and heard? I think that God showed me His heart for the lost in a new way that night and His willingness to use ANYTHING HE WANTS to bring people a step closer to Him. ANYTHING HE WANTS to glorify His Son on this earth.
And I am telling you, HE WAS THERE. At Radio City Music Hall in New York City, His presence was there.
Melissa,
This is off the subject but I didn’t know how else to contact you. In case your newspaper does not have Pickles in your comics please check out this website. Today’s comic was written for you!!
http://www.gocomics.com/pickles
Get ready to whoop (that’s more than a laugh).
It is the comic for March 31st only.
Melissa,
Just wanted to share with you how meaningful this post is for me. I’m deep in studying the concept of pilgrimage right now and struggling with hearing God’s Word for me as far as traveling opportunities. I went to the store but couldn’t find a copy of Christianity Today to read the article but hope to as it looks like I really do need to read it! Even without the article, I’ve learned a lot just from reading the posts of all the Siestas. Thank you for sharing this. It’s just what I need. 🙂
Melissa,
My husband and I were blessed with a trip to Paris about 10 years ago. We visited Sacre-Coeur basilica and there were nuns singing – we couldn’t see them – it was so beautiful, unlike anything I had ever heard. I immediately thought of angels and felt God’s presence. I have never forgotten it and can hardly wait to hear the “real” chorus of angels when we are in Heaven with God.
I want so badly to visit the Holy Land and walk where Jesus walked. Financially this is impossible and perhaps I’ll have to wait for the New Jerusalem but it is a trip that I dream of. Every time I watch Beth being there during a Bible Study it so mesmerizes me. Perhaps Jesus himself will be my tour guide!
I would have to say the most amazing moment with Jesus was when He took me to Shell Ecuador. I was on a mission trip with 14 other people but it was like it was just me and God. i have never experienced Him in this way in all of my years walking with Him. In these 7 days I think I cried the whole trip. I was moved by the people we served, I was moved by the orphans we loved on, I was moved by the egerness of the people and how they wanted to know Jesus, but what I was moved by the most is the missionaries that we came in contact with.
I would meet with my Savior every morning on the roof top which was surrounded by mountains. As I read the word and worshiped in song I was touched everyday all day. I believe that I was a mountain that was moved from where I had been sitting way to long. I was called to full time ministry and God allowed that to be a reality on this trip. Since this trip everything makes since now. It has been two years and not a day goes by that I don’t think about this beautiful place where God showed me things about me that I needed to know.
I was asked to teach out of God’s word at a little church and I would have an interpurter. Scared to death I sought the Lord, He gave me a fresh word. I have never in all my life felt the annointing come on me like that night. It was as if I had spoken with an interputer my who life and that night God showed me that all He needs is a vessel that is willing and He will do the rest.
Since this time God has shown me the full picture of this trip. My desire is to obey Him in all i do and with His guidence hope to be back in Shell Ecuador putting on a full 4 day conference for the missionary women. We are in the process of getting our non-profit and I can’t contain my joy. When He calls His people He will always equipt them. Heavenly Haven Ministries is what came out of this trip so it will always be very dear to my heart!!!
I am so glad you wrote this. I am going to Romania in June on a mission trip. I am so baffled as to why God has been wanting me to even go on this “pilgrimage” since I don’t really feel like I have any special talents/abilities that the mission team could use there. But I realize that God is wanting me to receive something FROM those precious people and to bring it home with me to my church. So cool! Your post just confirmed that to me! Now, I am more excited than ever about going and experiencing God in a new way.
I have not read everyone’s response so if my response is not what you are looking for then I am sorry.
My most memorable journey was not across the world or even to another state. It was only across town but certainly to another world. My daughter in a rebellious period had ran away from home and was living in a drug house. Once we found out where she was, we called the police and went to get her. The house was a dirty white with the windows painted black. Once inside it reaked of scents I didn’t know. Teen-agers all over the place, asleep, passed out, blankly staring at a tv, most with no clue what was happening.
It was there I not only found my daughter, but I caught a glimpse of where my heavenly Father must see me at times. Maybe it’s not alcohol or drugs I’m hiding in and destroying myself with, but over eating, pride, laziness and other sins are just as bad.
It was that journey that I learned what unconditional love is. It goes into the dark places, the scary places, the unbearable places and it pulls us out.
I learned more through that trip across town and the months following than I have through any other journey in my life.
Melissa,
I have SO enjoyed reading this blog. Thank you for taking the time to express your thoughts and you have certainly caused me to dive deep into my own thoughts and reflections. I met Jesus on the road in Kazan, Russia on a mission trip in 2005. I “thought” I was taking The Message to the people there, but I learned quite quickly that God was in fact bringing the message to ME! This trip followed a life changing semester of “Believing God.” The timing of it all was truly was divine. Meeting Jesus on the road there, in a land so far away, became a defining moment in my life. To the praise of the glory of His grace!
Thanks again for this awesome blog! It stretched me!
Traci
I haven’t read all the blog yet, but why did you just get a 2008 issue?!?!
Melissa,
What a moving tribute to how the Lord carves on us until we reflect His likeness. My travels to Europe last fall led me on one misty, cool morning to the footsteps of Notre Dame in the heart of Paris. Not only was the architecture stunningly breathtaking, Notre Dame was more than I’d ever imagined. As I gazed up at the dozens and dozens of gargoyles on high that had been there since the 3rd century, it was the scene on the ground that God used to carve on me. There was a blind beggar standing at the gate asking for money from tourists as they entered the cathedral. God gave me presence of mind to capture that moment in a photograph that still sends shivers up my spine. It was a 21st century picture of Scripture’s beggar at the “Gate called Beautiful” in Acts 3. And just like the people of antiquity, the visitors of Notre Dame were looking the other way to avoid the beggar. I’d love to be able to send you the photo. Stark need stood outside the beautiful gate in front of one of the most magnificent architectural wonders in God’s creation, only to be shunned again by humanity. Thanks again for sharing your story. I pray He keeps carving on you just as powerfully. You are a blessing, indeed.
Hope this isn’t too long (I just kind of feel led to share?!?)
My husband gave me a 10 day trip to Israel with a group of girls from my church in Nashville in October 2000… I was SO excited to go! Couldn’t wait to walk where Jesus walked etc… counted the minutes from April to October!
Well a few days before we went Ariel Sharon had visited the Temple Mount to say it was one of the holiest places for the Jewish People and everything went crazy there… When we arrived in Jerusalem you could see smoke, helicopters, hear gunfire… I mean I was PETRIFIED! Our hotel was guarded… Kofi Annan flew over… CNN etc…Y’all fear has always been my HUGE stronghold! But for 10 days I think I was the scaredest (sp?) I have ever been in my life… I mean how could I concentrate on the temple steps when we had to have a plain clothes guard go with us with a machine gun in his duffle bag?
Anyway I guess my point is… I felt such guilt and shame… How could I call myself a Christian and be walking on such Holy Ground and be so afraid?? All the other girls weren’t as afraid as I was?!? I mean what a better place to go!?! Oh did I beat myself up! Why can’t I trust you Lord? I was frozen…
Well Jesus in His tender mercy… touched my heart so many times on this trip… in the deepest places!
My favorite one I’ll share was after I literally dove in the Jordan River (in all my clothes… I couldn’t help it I just had too!) as I came up and looked up at blue sky I lifted my hands in the air in tears telling Him how sorry I was for my fear… my lack of trust etc… He so gently spoke to my heart, “Emmy, Emmy, my child, my precious daughter with whom I am well pleased… I love you even in your deepest fear!” Oh my goodness the LOVE I felt at that moment… as if He wrapped me up in His arms… Y’all I can’t describe it- I tear up as I type… total peace I knew He loved me despite my fear… the love and peace that washed over my heart! I still have that picture on my desk…
So was it the end of my fear on the trip… no… but it was an awesome place to be because I had no where to run… I couldn’t go home… I just had to run and climb up on His lap… and feel His robes on my cheek and hear Him say Emmy Emmy and He would quiet me with His love! : )
*Sorry that was long (if anyone even got this far!)
Oh, my, Melissa! Do I remember meeting Jesus on the Road? In fact, you were there. It was high in the Alps in a little Swiss town. Your mother had been teaching us for several days as we all encountered the “transformation” of Christ on the mountain. She ended the afternoon session asking us to all find our own quiet get-away space to reflect and ponder on what we had learned from Him. She made it very clear that we should go by ourselves. I watched as others took off in numerous directions and there in front of me was the cable car (longest in the world, if I remember correctly) and I had one pass left that needed to be used. So off I went. The minute that cable started to rise from that Swiss valley and I gazed out over Juagfrau, the glaciers, the quaint churches with their belfries. I started to sing and that is when He came. He filled that cable car and for the next half hour or so I soared, not only up the mountain, but to new heights in Him. My life has never been the same. I completely did a 180 turn and when I returned to the valley and then to the US, I couldn’t tell enough people about my personal relationship and revolutionary transformation in Jesus.
Jamie, actually it was the April 2009 issue. The 2008 was a typo. Sorry about that. Funny, out of all the comments, you were the first to ask that. You win! haha. So, thank you. Have a good day!
This past summer we took a group of students to Big Stuf in Daytona and as the music blaired and the drums pounded and the lights soared, I watched this drummer spring to his feet during a break in the song and throw his arms in the air to praise his Jesus! I almost fainted at the glorious site of the furtherest thing from a “performer” but a true worshiper. I am crying as I type! It was awesome!!!!!!
Kelly
Clarksville, Tennessee
So incredibly awesome Melissa!
I went to a Oklahoma Women’s retreat, that woooed me to the Lord! Well, not at the retreat, but a month later in my bedroom on the phone with one of the ladies from that retreat.
Now that I’m over a year in Christ….I’m in LOVE. I want to go to the Holy Land. Wow, that would be amazing to walk where my Lord walked.
–And I would love to come to Houston to the siesta scripture memory party. Praying the Lord provides a way for this broke college student to go, I sure am studying my verses!
I have been blessed to travel more than most – first in the states and the past year as a missionary in Central Asia. In the past year I have been in Pakistan, Thailand, Afghanistan, UAE (United Arab Emirates) and seen the borders of China and India. But nowhere has God touched me so deeply as in the mountains of Northern Pakistan – Hunza to be exact. This is in the same mountain region as the famed
K2 peak. I traveled to this remote and mountainous region in June 2008and stayed in the village of Karimabad. They call this the roof of the world and old legends say this was where the original Garden of Eden was. The glory of the stark and rugged mountains was breathtaking and made one think that perhaps God was having a boring day and He decided to liven things up a bit by creating Hunza. But the most amazing thing was that I met my first open seeker in this land – a young person whom the Hound of Heaven was pursuing. In this rocky soil of seed sowing, this is the true miracle – that God would love and woe even one who lived at the roof of the world.
This place also made me think and write deeply about Eve – and some of the questions she might have pondered. Here is part of a poem that I wrote shortly after returning from this trip:
I went to the Garden of Eden
a valley, lush and fertile
I climbed to the roof of the world
mommie eve, I think
this was your home
did you open your eyes
a thousand millennium ago
and behold the fierce beauty
that I saw
was this your garden of sanctuary,
your place of perfect peace?
Did you wander here
And smile in pleasure
At the cherries in the spring
and the apples in autumn?
Did you stand in awe
of the jagged snow capped peaks
that I beheld only yesterday?
mommie eve,
I forgot for a moment –
your years were before
the great rushing waters
covered the earth,
that great weight
breaking and pressing
even these towering peaks
forming rivers and glaciers
ripping continents asunder
I forgot that your time was before
those waters destroyed all life
except for one tiny drifting boat
Glaciers sliding and crashing into one another,
their titanic collisions muffled by the
great and pounding deep,
forever changing
the garden that had been
your home
Rebecca
Every year our Women’s Ministry goes on a trip to Gatlinburg, TN. for the weekend. Two years ago, a group of us went through Cades Cove. We stopped at an open field and got out for pictures. I walked way out into the field and laid down in the grass. Amazingly, from my vantage point, I couldn’t see any roads, cars, or even people. Only the mountains, grass and trees. I just wept. I felt God’s presence in such a magnificent way. I just laid there for a while…feeling like I was in another continuum somewhere. After a little while, my girlfriends came out and joined me. We all just laid there and enjoyed the Lord. Some of us cried, some of us just laid there silently. And beautifully enough, just like the women we were designed to be…we laughed, and laughed, and laughed at ourselves while all the other tourists were probably angry that we ruined their pictures. To mark the moment, we all arranged our laying bodies in the shape of a cross and took pictures. It was complete fun! I think our pilgrimages don’t have to be to some far away land… but something as close as our own backyard. Loved the blog, Melissa. Didn’t mind the length at all!
Last year, I attended a Lifeway Women Reaching Women conference followed by Living Proof Live in Colorado Springs. I traveled by myself from Illinois to this conference. I had such great expectations for the trip, but not specific expectations . . . expectations that God would do a work in me that weekend. I had such a great time of refreshing and learning and passion renewing. It was all beyond what I could have dreamed up. I came home charged and ready to continue serving my family and local church. One of the cool things that happened that weekend was an answer to what I would call a frivolous prayer. I just told the Lord one morning it would be cool if I could meet your mom. Well, later that same day she stopped into our conference and I was able to ask her a question during a little Q & A session. Little did she know her visit was such an extra special treat for me that morning 🙂 God is a giver of frivolous love!
James 4:7 (NIV)
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Julie
Rosemount, Minnesota
Romania………….
Myself and another couple were squeezed into the back seat of a very small car traveling 2 hours to a church outside of Cluj, Romania. It was a life changing ride. As we rode along, the gentleman driving began to tell us his story about growing up in Romania. He spoke of being a child and being told he was stupid and would amount to nothing because he was a Christian. When he reached high school he said that he remembered being so sad over losing many friends who chose to renounce Christ in order to have a better life. We rode by a large building with a large white cross and he spoke of the Christians that had been rounded up in the middle of the night, taken off and never heard from again. The cross was put up in memory of those.
Being a musician myself I was especially touched by the next part of his story. He told of the time that a fellow church member called them all to the church in the middle of the night and how they hovered close together and played Christian music worshipping the Lord. I sobbed in the back seat of that car most of the way to the church.
We were there to minister to them????
My faith could not come close to touching theirs.
Worship that we take so for granted is truly precious there.
That pilgrimage forever changed my life.
Jami
I am not a Catholic, I attend a Baptist church, but the most incredible spiritual pilgrimage I have ever been on was when me and two of my best friends spent the week in a monastary. A silent monastary at that. God truly met us there in a powerful way!
Thank you for sharing, Melissa.
I went to Spain in college and was visiting some friends up the coast line. I got off the light rail where I thought home was. Well, it wasn’t, but I thought walking home would be a good idea. In about my second mile walking over a mountain, I saw the city I was staying in below. This was a very spiritually oppressed, very dark place. I felt emotionally and spiritually depressed when I was there. Then I heard God speak to me: I am here. You may not feel me here, but I am here.
That was my first time hearing the Father. That spoke to me more than a dream walk on the Camino ever could. And I am still thankful for this day. I hope God sends me back there.
Melissa, WHEW! there is much food here and i’m trying to respond briefly- Times change but i don’t think human nature does….ie. we all got your comment about “bringing home the 3-d scripture goggles”. See! we still might leave “wittenberg to buy the relic”. BUT the kind of relic that you brought back – a changed and chastized heart- is something you cannot buy, it’s something you can’t set out to find. Only by opening our hearts to receive God’s revelation and love does the trip become a pilgrimage….otherwise i think it may be “an act of religious devotion” (which is perfectly cool too!) but you’d return with trinkets instead of the gold that you brought back and shared with us! thank you!
Melissa,
My husband and I just recently returned from a Caribbean cruise for our 1st Anniversary of marriage.
My husband was sea-sick for the first two days, so in between caring for him, and reflecting on the servantship of marriage (that the Lord has taught me over and over again this past year), it gave me a chance to take my Bible, a study of your mom’s that I’m doing, and my iPod out on our private balcony. I spent time with the Lord praising him for his glorious ocean, and his infallible word that he has given us. I would also listen to some of the old hymns and praise songs downloaded onto my iPod. Tears fell freely while I sang along to the songs, watching the ocean.
On top of the most incredible time I spent with the Lord, our cruise ported at Labadee, Haiti. (A little plot of land owned by the cruise ship.)
The church I attend sponsors a Haitian mission. I have felt the pull of God to give there, but once I set my feet on the ground of Haiti, met some of the true Haitians, I knew God was calling me there.
I’m currently looking to serve the Lord there this summer, in his will.
Thanks for such a thought provoking, and well written post.
Bless you!
I have never travelled far, but there is one place I went that is definitely special to me. I grew up surrounded my mountains, so when I headed off the Bible college on the Canadian praries, it was a bit of a change for me. 😉 But, there was one night where I was walking with a couple of friends on the road at the end of town watching the sunset, and then we just sat on the side of the road talking for long enough that we ended up seeing the Northern Lights in the sky. I will never forget the feeling of just being in awe of the beauty of all that God created. It made me realize that if God took the care to create such a beautiful world, then He must have taken that same care to create me. Honestly, the way that I looked at God and my relationship with Him was forever changed that night.
melissa, that song is probably the most precious song on earth to me;when my dad was dying from kidney cancer, he would listen to christian music on an mp3 player. he told my mom that shine jesus shine was his favorite, so we sang it at his funeral. a few months later, my husband,children and i went to glorieta for a week. guess what the theme song for the week was? of course. we had to sing it at each worship service. i cried every single time, but it also let me know that God was right there with me.also, we lived in germany for 2 1/2 years and some germans came to our home bible study. we got to listen to them pray in german. that is the first time i really realized God doesn’t just speak english.
Kathy, your comment about your Dad almost brought me to tears. That is just the sweetest thing.
My “pilgrimage” was a 2 hour car ride north to Seattle Wa for my first LPL in February 07. It changed my life. I really had not idea what to expect but went with an open mind and heart. When Travis and his group of talented people began with the worship, 5000 women rose to their feet, raised their hands and praised Jesus as one. I was in shock and awe as I turned around and just watched their tears and smiles, their joy and wonder and their need for Him.
His presence was palpable in a way I had not experienced before or have since. I believe the Northwest is suppossed to be one of the most “unchurched” regions of the US, but these women had a faith that could charge up the entire state of Washington! As always, Beth’s message was inspiring and sincere. I have not been the same since! That experience freed me from being a polite christian woman to praising my Lord and Savior whenever and wherever I see fit. I now go from down on my knees to lifting it all up to Him with thanksgiving and joy. Thank you Jesus!!!!
If Beth feels His presence in that way at even only ONE event per year, she is truly blessed!!
His love to you,
Tina
P.S. I will be attending LPL in Portland in a couple of weeks and can’t wait to praise Him with other Siestas!!!!
Melissa
I anyone ever says to you “you’re trying to be like your mother” and it doesn’t feel like a compliment take it and make it one. Just say Thank you. I say this because of the way you share personal stuff. You know how much personal stuff your mom shares.I think it takes guts to put yourself out there like that.I appreciate your candor and humility.
I have not traveled too far from home. I don’t know what effect any kind of pilgrimage might have on me. I drive a lot for my job sometimes several hours at a time. What I can say is the LORD makes me feel close to him in my back yard or driving down the road. Every time I see red cardinal,a butterfly on a flower,a waterfall that come off the side of a mountain, 2 deer grazing midday on a bluff along side the road, a hawk flying along side my car as I drive down the highway.( There’s a story behind the Hawk sighting)or the brilliant colors we have here in the northeast in autumn. These are just a few of the delights the LORD has shown me during my long drives for work. I see His glory and I thank him oh I thank him when He does these things for me. I know he does it because he loves me.I can feel his spirit. I am so humbled by what he shows me that sometimes I cry, I can’t even wrap my mind around what glorious things we are going to see in heaven. So,I don’t mind staying around my neck of the woods.
Ginny
Schenectady NY
I loved your post and it really got me thinking!
I would say that one of the most awesome God moments I had traveling has to been at the Pico De Orizaba volcano in Mexico.
My husband and I traveled with some friends to rural Mexico to climb a 19,000 ft mountain. We were on the mountain for 4 days without running water, bathrooms or modern day conveniences of any kind. The weather was cold, snowy and chilly and the views were awe inspiring. From the mountain you could look out and see the ocean on a clear day. On the last day of our trek, I was sitting outside on a huge rock with my bible watching the sun go down. It was one of the only times that the sky was clear and the sun felt warm! I remember just feeling God’s presence strongly as I viewed his creation. The verse about God’s help coming from the hills came to mind and I just had a potent moment of personal worship and love with God right there!
I cherish that memory!
Esther White- Hurst, TX
Awww… the engagement… I remember that. Love you both a lot!
Several years ago, my husband and I spent the week-end at Atlantis/Paradise Island in the Bahamas. It was amazing! Never before had I seen such opulence! Although we have many wonderful memories, there is one God moment I will never ever forget! There I was, standing in one of the restaurants feeling totally overwhelmed, when suddenly this Scripture came to mind, “In My Father’s house are many mansions;” (John 14:2). Wow! Not only did Jesus know exactly how I felt at that exact moment but He also assured me that nothing on this earth compares to what awaits us in heaven!
I sang Shine Jesus Shine a lot in college and loved it… eventually got tired of it b/c we sang it so often, but thought about it again the other day and was blown away as I recalled the lyrics… they truly are deep and powerful and glorious! Thanks for sharing your story…
I was going through a particularly difficult time some seasons back. I told the Lord that I knew that He loved me… but, I needed for him to some how some way tell me. I had gotten on my knees and begged Him to tell me.
When I got to work, I opened up and e-mail from a very good friend that lives about an hour away.. and in 3 inch high letters, bolded in red it simply said “I LOVE YOU!”.
Later in the day I called that friend, and started telling her about my prayer that morning. She said Terri, it was the strangest thing… I was getting ready for work and all of a sudden I had to get on my knees and pray for you. I was running late, and I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I knew that I needed to call you, but I was already late for a meeting. So, when I got to work, I only had time enough to send an e-mail that simply said “I LOVE YOU!!”.
When I explained to her how God had used her that day, we both started bawling.
He is so precious to both of us, and it thrills me that He cares enough to give us even the small things that we need at the time. All we have to do is ask!
Praise God!
Terri
Hey Melissa,
Shew! That was good.
So good, it demanded silence after I read it…
Especially when I read the part about God preparing you to break a relationship/engagement. At some level I instantly related. There were many times I went somewhere for a specific purpose and Father ended up reasoning with me the entire trip about some deeper, presently happening life issue that needed resolution at the heart level. Praise His name.
I’m silenced again…life could have turned out very differently w/out those times of His influence.
Anyways, I’ve been blessed enough to travel a lot all over the world, but the following example came straight to my mind…
A few months after my mom died I was reading Song of Solomon (that’s a funny sentence now that I re-read it…yes, I’m sure there was a loneliness factor in there:). The only thing I remember seeing was “Come away My beloved” between all those verses. The idea of a castle formed in my imagination and I began searching the web for one. I found Glen Eyrie in CO and JC and I were on our way. I had full intention of studying scripture, reading, writing, praying (in a certain way I imagined) during this 4 day sabbatical w/ the Lord.
BUT…and here’s the yummy part…I literally sat silenced for 4 days. We took walks together, sat in the rose garden, watched mountain goats on the grass, but all in silence. Initially I felt bad that I was not “doing” something w/ Him. But it dawned on me as we were sitting on a park bench that this must be what people who have been married for a long time feel comfortable doing together…enjoy each other. Without a word.
So I started going through our relationship in my head…how we met in 94 and where and all the ups and downs we’ve been through together. And now He drew me away to this beautiful place just to breathe together. Nothing more, nothing less. He knew I needed to be breathed into after taking care of a mom w/ cancer and all that comes with that and what hits one afterwards.
He was my Husband there in the Glen Eyrie garden. Explaining to my soul, in a way only He can, that it was good for me not to strive to “gobble Him up” this time…I was filled w/ Him by simply existing with Him in the beauty of silence. He simply was. The I AM.
Thanks for helping me remember this:)
I think Jesus is yummy:)
Monika
Canton, MI
My husband is a Park Ranger and we used to live at the Grand Canyon (thus my blog name). Hiking the Canyon was life changing for me. We haven’t lived there for about 2 1/2 years but we’re going back for an overnight hike next week and I’m looking forward to experiencing it again. There is something so powerful about being in the middle of that Canyon and thinking “I know the One who created this… And He loves me. Wow!”
Two places come to mind and neither began as a pilgrimmage – God, however, had other things in mind. For me both were connected to the wonder of God’s creation. My junior year of college I traveled with a biology class to the Virgin Islands to camp and 4 years ago I traveled with my husband to Hawaii. God was behind every tree and every wave in each of them showing me how close He was in the beauty He created. The college trip resulted in me deactivating from my sorority and the trip to Hawaii brought my husband one step closer to salvation (culminating in 2007.) It was a joy to read your blog today. I love the long and involved and I empathize with the scolding God gave you. He’s delivered some that way to me too. Thanks for being so genuine.
1Peter 5:6-7 KJV (Chas Stanley)
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of GOD that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Demetria – Houston, TX
My sister and I sat with my mother, who was so ill she couldn’t talk. We knew but were not admitting at that moment that she would soon being going to be with the Lord. My sister went to the chapel of the hospital and got a hymnal and brought it back to Mama’s room. Sher and I began to sing the old, old hymns, and soon Mama, who had not spoken for a couple of days, or responded, began singing with us. God’s grace was so evident that day. I will always cherish that blessing that He allowed us to be together and communicating praise back to Him. Yes, this was a long journey; Mama’s bedside was a sacred place where we three sang praises to God. I know Mama’s journey ended in Heaven with her Savior. Ours continues; He is faithful.
This is about something I did not see.Our Russian tour guide told us this:
In Russia a catherdal was torn down by the State. They were going to build a Community Hall where the church had been. The catheral had been perfectly balanced for the less than firm soil.The State was never able to replicate the balance and the land was left unused.
To answer your question about where did I hear God: two of the loudest and clearest times I heard Him were in my hometown. Once I was in the library and hear a voice telling me to go home.I cut short my converation with the librarian and went home. When I got home the scanner was on. A hurricane had touched down momentarily on the road I used to come home @5 minutes after I had passed that way! Another time I was going to ask this guy his opinion on something.When I started to cross the hall I heard a loud NO! in my head. He is still happily married. I am glad I didn't find out about that one.