Pilgrimage: Post Application

After more than a week since a new edition of the Second Strait has been published, I find myself working through the busyness that has been in my life since I’ve returned from Italy. The return from my pilgrimage has been a memory maker to say the least, and now I have an opportunity to contemplate the real life application of what my recent adventure gave me.

"Lewis"

Alas, I have realized that within this busyness, I need to schedule the time to actually do the contemplating!  Since my arrival home my beautiful wife, Jennifer, and I have “closed” on the decision to add a four-legged surprise to our family.  Two days after I returned home, we picked up “Lewis” Gelletly - a 6lb Miniature Schnauzer. Earlier that morning, we went through the various rituals of sending all three of our amazing kids back to school in the 6th, 5th and 1st grades.  To make things even more interesting, we’ve added the excitement of hunting for the exactly the right car for our evolving family. 

How about that? Baptism by fire, right? I go from two weeks of deep contemplation, and seeking the ancient roots of the Christian faith, right into kids going back to school, puppy training, and car hunting.  Not to mention getting back into the groove of being husband, dad, and around the house fix-it guy. I can tell you this: it isn’t the easiest thing to do.  

Altar at the tomb of Apostle Paul

Perhaps, though, it isn’t the toughest thing to do either. Because of all the quiet time while in Rome and Assisi, most of my mind was dedicated to unpacking the real-time experience laid out in front of me (this would later give me the tools to respond to my family’s needs).  Each and every single day was an experience of praying at ancient cathedrals, sitting in front of the tombs of well-known apostles, and getting lost with St Francis in the woods. Working my way through these moments with such physical and mental focus allowed me to think through the phrases that continually sung in my mind: “Warm Embrace” and “Suffering”.  It was in this physically walking and mentally contemplative place, that I experienced some very core emotions of the Christian faith, which I may unpack in later editions of the Second Strait.

For now, a moment that stands out on this pilgrimage was a conversation I had with a Franciscan Monk, whom I met at the Basilica of St Francis.  Fortunately for me, he was originally from New York, so we could actually engage one another without a language barrier.  As we spoke, the experience of this Christian religion became a tangible, by way of three of the five human senses.  This brown robed man of humility went on to share how “confession [inside the church] is an encounter with Christ, where we confront our selves”.  To have these words fill my sense of hearing, was like experiencing a release right from my core.  Confusing though, it is as if my core longed for this moment before I even recognized my need for it.

Having the guts to confront myself is hard for me to do.  However, having that warm embrace of a fellow seeker of God, where he and I reach out to Christ so that we may confront the uglies in my sometimes impatient and non-listening heart is a very different situation. Concluding our time together, he spoke the forgiving words of Christ, blessed me and reminded to share the light of this beautiful gospel.  

Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi

As I was leaving this encounter, the aroma of incense filled my sense of smell, and I made my way to a kneeler near the back of the beautifully ornate chapel, with many others ready to receive Christ.  The liturgy of the Eucharist was about to begin. How beautiful to have heard God, smelled God, and now I will even fill my sense of taste with God! Could this be scripted any better?  I’ve confronted myself with Christ. I’ve recognized the challenges in my life, with Christ. And now, with my fellow pilgrims, I partake of the body of Christ in the Eucharist, inside the basilica of a man that embodied grace and humility: St. Francis.  Ah, and I would do this right along side of St Francis himself, who is entombed in the grotto just beneath the altar just a few feet away.

So, I take this moment and all of its richness with me. This release, and this attempt at confronting myself with Christ is with me also.  I eventually depart the holy sites in Assisi and Rome, and fly to New York, then on to Detroit.  I embrace my beautiful wife. I embrace my amazing kids. I get a puppy. I experience the first day of school.  I start car shopping. I do laundry.  I help with homework.  I clean up puppy-poop. I wash dishes. I mow the grass and I become that “fix-it” guy once again. But this time, I have an extra tool in my “fix-it” bag.

It is in these real-life moments where I must apply the tools of grace and humility I experienced 4,600 miles away. It is in these moments that I share them with the real life that is my own. Pilgrimages must come to an end, so I can apply what I have gained to the real journey that I daily live.