You are on a pilgrimage, whether you know it or not.
My wife and I watched a documentary on religious artifacts a few nights ago. Since then, I’ve been thinking about the concept of a pilgrimage. In the show, they talked about an artifact in France and the visitors who pour in from across the world to see it.
Faith traditions frequently incorporate pilgrimages, and it’s not hard to understand why: They are acts of devotion, and at the destination, something special awaits.
What they encounter can be healing, cathartic, revelatory, or simply an act of humble servitude and faith.
A skeptical person might describe what the pilgrim experiences as an expectancy effect. Psychologically speaking, the person undertakes the pilgrimage believing that they will benefit, and therefore, they do.
A faithful person would likely see this as the divine pilgrimage and destination bestowing upon the traveler the blessing they seek and deserve.
The skeptic and the person of faith would likely agree that if someone undertook the journey expecting no benefit, that would indeed be their outcome.
It’s the same end, but the means are explained differently. The skeptic would view the lack of benefit as being the result of the traveler’s grasp of the truth. The faithful person would likely argue that such doubt undercuts the faith necessary for the benefit.
Definitions of the word pilgrimage vary, but bear in mind that they do consistently include the foreignness of both the route and the destination. Furthermore, inherent to the definition is the idea that this undertaking results in expanded understanding and a higher good for oneself.
You, estranged parent or grandparent, may not have expected to undertake this pilgrimage. This is foreign to you. Nevertheless, here you are, putting one foot in front of the other, relearning your life in the process. You did not want to be here, but the X on the map of your journey is labeled “radical acceptance”. Your circumstance is out of your control, and there is no journey ahead, no pilgrimage, no higher good if you do not recognize and accept this truth. Once you do, look ahead. Your job at this point is to envision and remain open to the possibilities. You can do this, and you have permission, pilgrim.
