A scribe then approached and said, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ Matthew 8:19-20Today I finally feel like a pilgrim! After arriving at my first hotel at nearly 2am this morning and a very fitful night’s sleep, I got up and got going as planned. Taxi to the bus station, then a quick breakfast of much needed coffee and a gigantic croissant to keep me going. Fortification was definitely needed before encountering the scrum to get on the direct bus and even then I only managed to get the second to last seat - the poor chap next to me had shoulders wider than the seat space! Thankfully, despite feeling tired and bordering on irritable, I summoned up the charitable thoughts from yesterday and accepted my diminished space with the best grace I could muster.And now I’m in Sarria. My first taste of Camino hospitality at a lovely hostel has consisted of a roaring fire, a cup of ginger tea and a muffin to round off the gigantic boccadilla that just about dealt with my ravenous hunger! All a big help as I’m feeling a bit disorientated. It’s a long while since I’ve travelled like this - staying somewhere different every night, with no chance to get used to the bed and the locale.And perhaps that’s also another defining aspect of a pilgrimage: never settling for more than a night or 2 and constantly moving on. Contemplating this is reminding me that I’m, by nature, a settled sort of person. I like familiarity and regularity. I like circular walks: setting out and returning from a spot that I can, even if only temporarily, call home. The next few days will tell whether I can manage the adjustment to constantly moving on, moving on, moving on.So, for now, it’s enough that tonight I have somewhere to lay my head … and my first stamp on my credencial!
As I sit in the airport departure lounge, feeling uneasily different in my dress and my intention from many of those around me, I’m drawn back to all the thinking that I’ve done in recent months about what a pilgrimage actually is. One definition I found is that it is ‘a visit to somewhere special; somewhere you go to show respect’. That seems rather inadequate to me. Google ‘helpfully’ suggested that it is a ‘pilgrim’s journey’!But perhaps that very simple explanation bears some unpacking … the journey element seems important to me. And I think, for a true pilgrimage, there must be some sense in which that journey is personally taxing. Not that every pilgrim must walk as I will. But just hopping into a car and travelling door to door doesn’t quite fit the idea. Perhaps the key is that it’s not a short journey in terms of time -even if the distance is relatively short, maybe it’s that we start it long before we set foot out of the door. We start preparing our bodies, our minds and, crucially, our souls to be receptive to the pilgrim experience.The word ‘pilgrim’ comes from the Latin ‘peregrinus’ - literally one who travels through the land, but it is also used to mean ‘foreigner’ or ‘temporary resident’. To be a pilgrim means to travel as what the Old Testament calls ‘a stranger and a sojourner’. It draws on ancient ideas of hospitality to strangers - the Greek concept of ‘philoxenia’, as well as God’s command to care for the resident alien alongside the widows and orphans.And I’m left wondering if the role of the pilgrim is like that of the 3 angels beneath the oaks of Mamre - yes, to be open to hospitality, but more importantly to find a way to be a blessing to those we travel among.
We have eight bells at St Mary’s Gillingham, which are rung regularly.Bell practice is on Monday evenings from 7:30pm to 9pm. The bells are rung for the 10am Sunday morning Eucharist from 9:30am.We have a small friendly team of ringers, but need a few more people to join us.If you would like to learn to ring (age from about 11 or adult), why not come along to one of our practice sessions to see us ringing and find out what is involved?Bell ringing is good fun for people of all ages, as well as being a service to the church. And it’s excellent exercise!Possibly you are already able to ring and would like to take this up again and join us.If you are interested, please contact the Ringing Coordinator, Alan Jeffs, on awjeffs@btinternet.com.
