Hello, fellow pilgrims of all ilks.  I hope you are well.

Did you have a chance to listen to last week's podcast with Karyn Thurston?  It was called "From Christian to 'Heathen,’" and throughout it, Karyn detailed some of her spiritual pilgrimage.

Whether you are religious or not, structured or free-spirited, dogmatic or surfing on rainbows, a universal "pilgrimage" of all homo sapiens is the spiritual journey.

One of the many things that I learned from listening to Karyn (who is a delightful human and you don't want to miss her simultaneously profound and whimsical musings), is the locus of her change.  

As Karyn explained her journey she pointed to moments when her transformation took a quantum leap.  They were moments when she experienced trial and change-- loss of relationship, compassion for her friends' plight, leaving her home-- I am sure there are complicated therapy terms for these "off-balance" moments, but let's just say, each time she was pushed off her well-worn path.

I spent 29 days walking from St. Jean Pied de Port in France to Santiago, Spain when I walked the Camino de Santiago.  One of the distinctive qualities of the journey is the well-worn path.  Every now and again a friendly yellow arrow or scallop shell sign reminds the traveler that they are squarely on the "way."  And while, there are blessings to be found along the "way," truth be told... I have since forgotten many of those well-worn days.

However... I can remember with precise detail the day I got lost... when I wandered off the path.  I walked several miles in the wrong direction.  I remember every turn of the path, the texture of the ground, the fear... from my suspicion that something had gone terribly awry.

At the time, I hated that day.

Karyn speaks of the place she finds herself today... spiritually speaking.  She is thankful.  And though she remembers clearly those days when she was pushed off the well-worn path... and she probably hated those moments at the time... she now looks back at them as if they were gifts.

These are, in so many ways, terrible times, 2020 that is.  Fear, scarcity, hatred, unknown, sickness, violence, judgment, and loss mark all of our lives.  And while I would never minimize or trivialize any of these sober realities, I have to ask myself...

When we look back on these days... these days when we have all been thrown off the well-worn path... what will be the gifts in the midst of our being lost?

Fellow pilgrims, have you even taken the time to ask, "What are the gifts I am missing in these days?"  

Like Karyn shared, is this an opportunity to reprocess what you believe?  Is it time to leave an institution or community that no longer provides your spiritual needs?  Is there a new relational network that is waiting for you to wander into?

Like it or not, we are all off the well-worn path.