Peace in and is every step

Thich Nat Han posits that what made someone more mindful of our connection between inner and outer life, and our connection with the world in which we live, is in focusing on each and every step we take in this world.

I am mindful that I am not aware of each and every step I take in this world.

On this earthly pilgrimage, maybe we should be more mindful. Mindful of what? Of the peace and joy that is in each and every moment of the day.

I am so not there today.

Just perhaps I should be then.

Perhaps.

Buen camino...B

Romania: A Place of Pilgrimage Amid Monasteries

Fascinating article in the nyt.com about monasteries built by Moldavian Prince Steven the Great, who, every time he won a battle he built a monastery.

What he left in his path is a treasure trove of monasteries.

From the article:

The result of his victories — 46 in all — was an unprecedented building spree within the densely forested terrain of the Bucovina region in modern Romania. The tradition was embraced by his son and successor, Petru Rares, and their vassals. Many of the mural-covered monasteries and churches survive, nestled in a valley, having withstood the withering summer sun and winter winds for centuries. What started out as Stephen the Great’s war trophies have become some of the world’s most stunning works of art.

They exist now as the present-day Monastery of Voronet, about three miles south of the Romanian village of Gura Humorului, and its sister sanctuaries, scattered within a radius of some 25 miles and collectively recognized as Unesco World Heritage sites.

Pinpointing the area that contains this trove is not easy. The region, which became the eastern outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is now divided between southern Bucovina, in northeastern Romania, and Chernivtsi Province, in present-day Ukraine. To further complicate matters, some Romanians also refer to it as northern Moldavia, not to be confused with the independent Republic of Moldova, which borders northeastern Romania. But there is good reason to make the trek, geographic confusion and pothole-pocked roads notwithstanding, as I did last summer.

Click here for more...

Buen Camino!

Brett

Abraham Joshua Heschel on Pilgrimage

Quote of the day!

"Faith is not the clinging to a shrine but an endless pilgrimage of the heart," by Abraham Joshua Heschel

Buen Camino!

B

Thomas Lynch Hymn, My Faith, It Is an Oaken Staff

A fitting pilgrim/pilgrimage hymn by Thomas Lynch:

My faith, it is an oaken staff,
The traveler’s well loved aid;
My faith, it is a weapon stout,
The soldier’s trusty blade,
I’ll travel on, and still be stirred,
By silent thought or social word;
By all my perils undeterred,
A soldier pilgrim staid.

I have a Guide, and in His steps
When travelers have trod,
Whether beneath was flinty rock
Or yielding grassy sod,
They cared not, with force unspent,
Unmoved by pain, they onward went,
Unstayed by pleasures, still they bent
Their zealous course to God.

My faith, it is an oaken staff,
O let me on it lean!
My faith, it is a trusty sword,
May falsehood find it keen!
Thy Spirit, Lord, to me impart,
O make me what Thou ever art,
Of patient and courageous heart,
As all true saints have been.

Richard Rohr on Pilgrimage

Some thoughts of pilgrimage from Richard Rohr, Franciscan priest:


A pilgrim must be a child who can approach everything with an attitude of wonder, awe and faith. Pray for wonder, awe, desire. Ask God to take away your sophistication and cynicism.

Ask God to take away the restless, anxious heart of the tourist, which always needs to find the new, the more, the curious. Recognize yourself as a pilgrim, as one who has already been found by God.

Though pilgrimages are good for the spirit, if you can't find Jesus in your hometown, you probably aren't going to find him in Jerusalem.

...We go on pilgrimage so we can go back home and know that we never need to go on pilgrimage again. Pilgrimage has achieved its purpose when we can see God in our everyday and ordinary lives.

Peace!

Buen camino!

B

Sucker for Sunrises and Sunsets

In OR, my mom and I watched carefully as the sun "set" over the western horizon, sinking below the tree line. Colors were rich and varied: pink, purple, yellow, orange, blue...and gray. Shades of those primary colors were everywhere splashed across the horizon.

In NC, I've enjoyed sunrises of pinks, yellows, and the light blue sky as the sun rises and peeks through the trees of our forested backyard.

Sunrise and sunsets: constants for a lively pilgrimage of life.

Pace!

B