Editorial: Fall 2008 issue

Last January I went to Iran on a Mennonite Central Committee Learning Tour. The purpose of the tour was to learn to know Iranian culture and people and to build bridges between Mennonites and Muslims.

Before going, we were advised to think of this trip as a spiritual pilgrimage. One of our Iranian hosts had sent a wise quote for the journey: "The friend, then the road." I interpreted this to mean that before one travels one should find some good traveling companions. Although I didn't choose the rest of the people on the Learning Tour, they turned out to be good companions.

The concept of going on pilgrimage is deeply rooted in scripture. For instance, Shiloh, the site of the ark of the covenant, was a favorite place where the Israelites would go each fall. Here it was that Samuel heard his call from God. Eventually, Jerusalem became the destination of choice; three times a year the people of Israel would go there for religious festivals; along the way they would sing pilgrim songs together (Psalm 84). Jerusalem too came to be seen eschatologically as the place where all nations would ultimately make pilgrimage (Isaiah 2:2-4; 60:3-16).

We are a pilgrim people; that is our identity.

In time, going on a pilgrimage was not just something people of God did; it also became their identity: they saw themselves as a pilgrim people—a people who were journeying together through life. God was both their Companion on the journey and the destination of their journey.

The church too has emphasized the importance of taking pilgrimages. Indeed, the most important place for Christian pilgrimages, by far, has been the Holy Land. Many people return from these trips testifying to how much more clearly they can understand scripture having observed firsthand the places where Jesus himself had lived and traversed.

The Crusades represent the dark side of Christian pilgrimages. When Muslims in the Middle Ages stood in the way of Christians making pilgrimage to the Holy Land, "Christian soldiers" tried to eradicate them. Unfortunately, we hear echoes of that same spirit today when politicians talk about eliminating evil, meaning killing off extremist Islamic fundamentalists, or when scholars talk about a clash of civilizations between a so-called Christian West and a Muslim East.

Pilgrimages have been important to Mennonites too. Scores of Mennonites have gone on Anabaptist tours to Europe to learn more about our spiritual predecessors. Who knows how many contemporary Mennonites have worshipped in the secret cave in Switzerland where the Anabaptists retreated for worship out of the sight of the authorities who persecuted them.

We Mennonites are inclined, however, to think it is more important for us to live everyday as a pilgrim people than to periodically go on pilgrimages to holy or special places. We are a pilgrim people; that is our identity. We're not on a solo journey; we travel with other people who are not chosen by us but by God. While we know what our destiny is, we walk by faith, not by sight. And although we haven't yet arrived, with our eyes fixed on Jesus we believe we're on the right path.

As a pilgrim people, we wear lightly any human associations, whether nation, class, ethnic group or gender. And while God gives us a place to live, if called we're ready to move on. We have a map for the journey, the Bible, but not necessarily an itinerary. Along the way we discern together what God's will for us is in any given place or context. In fact, spiritual discernment is the quintessential discipline and task of Christian pilgrims.

What would it mean for us as congregations if we were to think of ourselves as a pilgrim people on a journey together? Could committee meetings or even congregational meetings take on a new purpose if they were thought of as strategy sessions for faithful pilgrims? What about our efforts at evangelism? Are they not loving means of welcoming others to join us on the journey? And our efforts at Christian nurture—are they not means of equipping us for the journey?

Worship too has its privileged place in our life as a pilgrim people: it gives us strength for the long haul and makes us joyful travelers on the Way. But more importantly, worship reminds us of why we're on this journey, placing the triune God at the center and the goal of our pilgrimage.

Richard A. Kauffman