There are many motions of pilgrimage, "gestures" as Brett Webb-Mitchell calls them. This is only one of them.
Yes, I am on pilgrimage - on a journey towards God with the delicious sweetness of communion in a crazy, diverse pilgrim band. But in this sacred travel, there are motions we learn, practices that help us understand who we are. One of these is Holy Lingering.Holy Lingering is an important motion of pilgrimage - it is more than taking a break or a lack of movement. Holy lingering is holding back, hanging out. To me, it implies expectancy, anticipation, the assumption that by lingering, we can have a rich experience with the Holy; but it is also the work of taking time to look beyond our individual faith travels to a wider community and a broader space. In holy lingering, we acknowledge that there is something worth savoring in life's pilgrimage.
In my life's pilgrimage, it has been not only the movement through the liturgy, the moving towards something: it is in the moments I have stayed a little longer in a particular place, that I have been able to pause and reflect or slow down and notice God in new way. Life is a pilgrimage, it is not stagnant, but part of the movement of pilgrimage is the action of lingering. There I have found God in shadows and corners, in an unanticipated companion, in rest and contemplation, in discovering a pearl of great value. How many of these, I wonder, have I passed by, because I hurry on.
Perhaps there is something countercultural there, too. The culture of rushing says "don't stop to notice, don't stop to think." This culture urges on, always moving, never pausing. If we live this way, we never have to stop and pay attention to what God is calling us to do - we can keep shopping, earning trophies, climbing the ladder of "success," and avoiding the realities of failures and pain, avoiding relationships and events that can help us find the greater meaning in our movement. Holy lingering is an attempt to make a case for a vision of pilgrimage that is about more than a rat-race. Holy lingering reminds us that we are in fact pilgrims, and not fugitives. Running towards and not away. Hope you enjoy.
3 comments:
That concept of holy lingering reminds me how important it is to slow down. I think maybe thats why the concept of taking a sabbath is so countercultural but so necessary.
Holy lingering brings to mind the story of one who did not linger. A man who had been successful in Silicon Valley tired of his constant push for success. He quit his job and decided to "walk" the three major north/south trails in the country in one year: the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide, and the Appalachian Trail. He accomplished his goal; however, he seemed dissatisfied when questioned about his trip. I remember that he said he would have appreciated his trip more if he had had time to stop and enjoy some of the spectacular scenery that he passed. I believe he took his high-tech work mentality along with him. If he had taken time to linger in the spectacular and beautiful surroundings that he passed along the way he may have found unat is beyond reaching an almost materialistic goal.
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I want to hear how it went brother.
Always yours, in Christ.
Peter Milner
919 785 9611
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