{"id":19595,"date":"2015-07-17T11:18:14","date_gmt":"2015-07-17T16:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?p=19595"},"modified":"2015-07-17T11:27:25","modified_gmt":"2015-07-17T16:27:25","slug":"the-sandals-the-staff-and-the-promised-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2015\/07\/the-sandals-the-staff-and-the-promised-land.html","title":{"rendered":"The Sandals, the Staff and the Promised Land"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Leo<\/a>
Leo Tolstoy as a pilgrim<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Do you remember this detail from Sunday\u2019s Mass gospel?<\/p>\n

He instructed them to take nothing for the journey
\nbut a walking stick\u2014
\nno food, no sack, no money in their belts.
\nThey were, however, to wear sandals
\nbut not a second tunic.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What was our Lord thinking about? Was he trying to set up a kind of proto Franciscan order? Did he mean they should really have a walking stick, nothing for the journey, no food, no sack, no money and to wear sandals? Why so specific?<\/p>\n

It comes clear in today\u2019s reading from Exodus: The Lord has given instructions on how to kill and prepare the Passover lamb and how they should eat the meal:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is how you are to eat it:
\nwith your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand,
\nyou shall eat like those who are in flight.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ha! This is what Jesus was talking \u00a0about, and his disciples would have understood implicitly.<\/p>\n

The sandals and the staff in your hand are symbolic of the Hebrew people about to be released from slavery and ready to begin their journey to the promised land.<\/p>\n

So Jesus tells his disciples to head out on their mission as the new people of God. He, the Passover Lamb will be sacrificed and they are to embark on their mission with the same purpose of leading people out of the slavery of sin through the wilderness of this life to the Promised Land of heaven.<\/p>\n

The tradition of the pilgrim is therefore a powerful one in the history of the church.<\/p>\n

In the Russian church the\u00a0poustinik\u00a0<\/em>is a wandering pilgrim who eventually builds himself a\u00a0poustinia\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 a little hermitage. There\u2019s a classic book on this form of spirituality by Catherine Doherty. It\u2019s called Poustinia: Encountering God in Silence, Solitude and Prayer (Madonna House Classics Vol.1)<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

The idea of the book is that the\u00a0poustinik\u00a0<\/em>wanders until he knows he has found the place he is to settle. He wanders through the wilderness, if you like, until he finds his promised land. There he builds a little one roomed cabin in which to live and pray as a hermit. The\u00a0poustinik\u00a0<\/em>also helps in the community. He is not a total solitary. He (or she) lives and works with the people, but the\u00a0poustinik\u00a0<\/em>is known to be a person of prayer and a person of power.\u00a0Continue Reading<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you remember this detail from Sunday\u2019s Mass gospel? He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick\u2014 no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. What was our Lord thinking about? Was he trying to set up a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":19596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Sandals, the Staff and the Promised Land<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you remember this detail from Sunday's Mass gospel? 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