I wake up from my drugged and jetlagged sleep and actually do think, “Where Was I?”  Oh yeah, he thinks, coming to life.  This groggy pilgrim is in Tel Aviv. Those who live the Pilgrim Life are often unsure where they are.  Anyone remember the goofy movie, “It’s Tuesday It Must Be Belgium.” a sendup of whirlwind tours of Europe?  For a few seconds that is how I feel.  And that’s good, by the way. Who really knows where they... Read more

There we were in box car, Dad and brother and me, on a rail excursion, a day trip along a section of right of way where rail buffs like my dad would go to see some unusual trestle or tunnel, and standing there huddled like human cows dad saw and old friend and said to my puzzlement, “Long time no see!”  It made no sense at the time (being about eight) which is probably why it has stuck with me. ... Read more

I Just Flew in from Israel, And… Well, you know the rest.  And you may have noticed (cough) that I launched right into my most recent travel – Israel  – and yes, “Boy, is my spirit tired!”  Nowhere more than the city of Jerusalem, where you encounter two nations, three world religions, four climatic zones, and at least ten conquerors meet.  When you are there you meet all of these and more. I came home exhausted, consciously and willingly, but... Read more

I have “gone up” to the Holy Land.    In Judaism, the term Aliyah means go up, and applies to Jews immigrating to Israel.  Not being a Jew,  I am not, strictly speaking, making Aliyah.  But the idea of going up, is literally and spiritually true for me.  Literally, because Jerusalem sits on several hills which rise up from the Mediterranean Sea to the west and from the Dead Sea to the east.  It is spiritually true because, being a... Read more

Is pilgrim life worth it? Is pilgrim life worth it?  Or is it a waste of life?  The fool over there, who wanders through life, certainly suggests that pilgrim life is wastrel at the least.  Of course I think otherwise.  Yes, walking leads to a trance-like state, like the modern practice of walking labyrinths.  (That’s a whole other subject which I will explore another time, though I will boast of walking the famous one in Chartres twenty some years ago.) ... Read more

Listening to me is more a saunter than a hike. I meant to tell you about Sigeric the Serious. With a nod to my Patheos sponsor, James Ford, whose “Monkey Mind” posts tend to wander more than march, let me tell you about this character whose moniker sounds more like a character from “The Princess Bride” than actual history. Sigeric (the only name he had or that we know) was a Catholic Cleric in England during the 10th century. Nothing... Read more

The blizzard has started.  It’s not a blizzard quite yet; that comes later.  Right now, the snow is light, muffling the cars passing on the street below me.  My desk faces a window, you see, so I can take in the world, which as I write is dark and quiet.   Quite the contrast to my first overseas trip since May 2019 which plans I just finished today, down to details like which bus or train to take to which hostel... Read more

No doubt it was at summer camp when I was around age nine that I first heard the song “The Happy Wanderer.” You know the one.  It goes “Vaderi, Valdera, Valderi, Valdera Hahahahaha…” Instantly I formed a picture in my mind of someone walking along an Alpine path, striding, breathing deeply, communing with nature. And I wanted it.  Not until I was thirteen, though, did I see mountains like those I imagined then. We were on a train to Montana,... Read more