Pilgrims leave home and walk toward the Sacred. We are at the mercy of other people.
We depend on others to take us in at night, and to take us along on our journey. We go as far as we can each day and, far from home, stop to rest each evening. We take only what we can carry, hoping that we have prepared for the challenges we will face. Each day, each step, can be a struggle. We need a place to rest each night, to remember and to recharge our phones. Slowly, over time, the rhythm of day and night allows us to become better pilgrims.
I would not get anywhere if there were no one to encourage me and teach me lessons along the way. I would never begin if there were nowhere for me to rest along the way. The walking and the resting are the two halves of my pilgrimage. Walking and resting, actions and contemplation, each plays a vital part.
The people who teach me what I need to know and the people who give me a place to rest each show me true hospitality. The gifts they give come from who they are. They share their true selves with me, and I know my own true self more deeply.
My pilgrimage depends on and develops hospitality.
Receiving the hospitality of other people helps me recognize and appreciate the gifts I have to share. My pilgrimage shows me that I have deep lessons to teach and shelter to offer. Each step, each day, helps wear away my own insecurities and resistance. The rhythm of walking and resting brings me closer to my truest self.
I am welcome.
What is your rhythm of walking and resting, of action and reflection?
Who is offering you hospitality to you today?
[Image by alborzshawn]
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In