For today’s young adults (and probably the generation of young adults before this one), metaphors of faith live and breathe in images of motion: journey, quest, voyage, exotic adventure. Think about it for a minute: how many Safari Adventure vacation bible schools did we attend during childhood summers? How many times have we sung the song Guide My Feet (…while I run this race)? How many youth group discussions did we participate in about how to bring the mountaintop experience of NYC or workcamp (places we traveled long and far to get to) back home?
I think we were taught – and now firmly believe – that faith flourishes only when we take it for a test drive, far away from where we learned it. There’s something to expanding our perspectives and encountering the world, I’m sure, and Lord knows I’ve certainly racked up my share of frequent flier miles working for the church. But I’m starting to question whether “journey” is the best way to think about faith and about life. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, in his latest book, The Wisdom of Stability, asks these questions from his front porch at Rutba House (an intentional Christian community in Durham, North Carolina) reflecting on the Christian monastic traditions:
“For people who think little of flying across a continent, the assumption of Benedictine spirituality is striking: if we want our very being to rise up into God’s being, nothing is more important than rooting ourselves in a place where God can happen. Yes, we’re on a journey. But not all movement is progress toward the Promised Land.”
Yes, we’re on a journey, he reminds us, but not all movement is progress. What if we stood still for a while? What if, instead of falling into the caravan of wandering Israelites, we planted ourselves with the Psalmist’s tree by streams of water and let God teach us how to bear fruit in one place? What would happen – to us individually and to us as the Church of the Brethren?
What do you think? Is faith about roots or wings? African safaris or neighborhood block parties?
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June 15, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Jeanne Davies
I think the pilgrimage plays an important part in a life of faith. It seems an especially important part of our spiritual formation, since we in the U.S. live in such a privileged culture, isolated from both the poverty and blessings of other cultures.
But I also think that very few people are called to be continually journeying. Continually journeying can be a way to avoid the hard work of long-term relationship – romance instead of marriage, if you will. It can be equally challenging, if not more so, to love your neighbor that lives next door (instead of in Haiti or Bangladesh).
The church women who make funeral meals, the people who volunteer at the women’s shelter, the moms who raise children and create home for everyone to leave, the people who volunteer to mow the church lawn… these people are also in ministry. Although their ministries can be rewarding, they are often unnoticed because their ministries are not “sexy.” I sometimes think about cultivating a ministry that supports Christian nurture at home and in our immediate communities. It was one of my goals in pastoral ministry, since the wider social, international and cross-cultural witness already has a lot of energy and attention.
Finally, I wonder if the pilgrimage and journeying is age-related. I know this is a generalization and that different people come to things at different times in their lives. But I think perhaps the journeying and learning from cross-cultural and mountaintop experiences is generally for the young. With midlife and especially older adult life, comes integration and quiet action – a witness to insights gained from the journey and lived out at home and in the community.
June 16, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Josh Brockway
Great topic.
One of the reasons we attended the congregation we did in Atlanta was because we knew we needed to get settled. Though the congregation primarily was older than us and a bit more conservative we felt like its time of worship would actually get us to church. So we stuck it out. In the end, it was the best decision we have made in some time. That congregation became our family. I think that was in part because we weren’t leaving (well, we weren’t going to change churches).
I think though that the spiritual life is a journey….just not a physical one. The challenge, as you and Hartgrove name it, is for people in this culture to stay put, not just in one location but within one Christian community. Its only then that pilgrimage makes sense. In a pilgrimage one goes away to some holy place and returns home. It doesn’t make much sense to return to a new place, otherwise it was just another move.
June 17, 2010 at 12:27 am
Daniel Finkbiner
It’s been a while since I’ve had some food for thought from this site. I’ve actually really been thinking about these metaphores as I am working on my Bethany application. I think that we do find ourselves in spiritually dead places and find ourselves longing for flowing streams. Psalm 42 has really been speaking to me recently as I’m feeling somewhat uprooted as I wait for the next phase of my life to start. Home can be one of those spiritually dead places. It can remind us of our old selves and mire us in old habits. Sometimes though, I find myself taking a less pessimistic view that maybe I am in a very necessary season of rest before another season of growth. I guess all I’m left with is that everything has a season, including wings and roots
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June 17, 2010 at 4:15 am
David Smith
I like what you’ve written here, and since I’ve now seen this book mentioned a few times, so it now merits bring on my reading list. As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to realize that the real Christianity journey is to spiritual maturity, which can be done moving or stationary. You get different perspectives based on the path you take, so both are equally important. I’m in stationary mode myself, and I can tell you it can lead to just as much lack of progress towards the kingdom as moving can.