Passover: A Pilgrimage

Exodus 12:1-14

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgements: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

Above is the Scripture reading for this upcoming Sunday, Sept. 4th, 2011. I am struck by how the people are to eat the lamb: with girded loins, sandals on feet, staff, hand, and eat it hurriedly. Sounds like a pilgrimage to me!

No real surprise, since God's people have been on pilgrimage from the word "Go."

Pace!

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Pilgrimage of Teaching

I've finished grading my first batch of English Composition papers, and the students wrote well.

I'm trying to place the course in the context of a pilgrimage of learning.

Learning is a pilgrimage.

Education is a pilgrimage.

Life is a pilgrimage.

Pace!

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NCCU...a pilgrimage of education continues

I'm teaching English composition and Ethics at NCCU. For both courses, I've set the syllabus in the form of a pilgrimage.

The pilgrimage continues in all aspects of life.

Pace!

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Then there's this clip too

I used to teach this kind of pathway to education at Duke Divinity School. REAL education involves moving people in a certain context, in a certain way, directed by the goal of what we are educating a person toward.

I'm so Aristotelian/Dewey.

Anyway: Pilgrimage is a way of teaching people the practice of being Christian/Muslim/Jew/Hindu/ Buddhist on the road of life.

LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Pace!

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Move

Saw this vimeo movie, and thought of pilgrimage.

Enjoy!

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Turn Right at Machu Picchu

Last night there was an interview with Mark Adams over his book "Turn Right at Machu Picchu," which is a story of the discovery of Machu Picchu. This ancient Incan capital of the nation of Cusco has gone through an amazing history in and of itself, and is today a favorite among pilgrims.

This from the historybookclub.com:

On July 24, 1911, the young Yale professor Hiram Bingham III climbed into the Andes Mountains of Peru and encountered an ancient city in the clouds: the now famous citadel of Machu Picchu. Nearly a century later, news reports have recast the explorer as a villain who smuggled out priceless artifacts and stole credit for finding one of the world’s greatest archaeological sites.

In Turn Right at Machu Picchu, adventure and travel magazine editor Mark Adams recounts his attempts to investigate the allegations against Bingham by retracing the explorer’s perilous path to Machu Picchu. Given Adams’ career, it isn’t an entirely far-fetched notion, even if it does require him to sleep in a tent for the first time. With a crusty Australian survivalist and Quechua-speaking, coca-chewing mule tenders as his guides, Adams takes us through some of the most gorgeous and historic landscapes in Peru, from the ancient Inca capital of Cusco to the enigmatic ruins of Vitcos and Vilcabamba.

Along the way, he finds a still-undiscovered country populated with brilliant and eccentric characters, as well as an answer to the question that has nagged scientists since Hiram Bingham’s time: Just what was Machu Picchu?

Think I'm going to read it...you?

Buen Camino!

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Small world of pilgrimage

My friend, Lisa, has a son who is visiting New Zealand. Over Facebook she put out a blurb asking if anyone has a friend in Wellington, NZ.

I do!

I wrote to Jaqui, my friend in Wellington, and so they are trying to hook Lisa's son with Jaqui.

The beauty? Jaqui is my pilgrim compadre. She gets pilgrimage.

This is beautiful.

Love it!

Buen camino!

B

Ramadan has begun...and where was I?

I'm aware that I failed to designate the beginning of Ramadan! It is an incredible holy time for my friends who are Muslim.

It is involves a rhythm of praying, fasting, and feasting that is incredible.

For me, having been in Jerusalem at the end of Ramadan with the beginning of Rosh Hashana I remember to crossing over the 2 world religions that vie for attention in the Old City.

To my Muslim friends, blessings in this season of Ramadan.

Buen Camino!

B

The Gospel: It's all about walking

The Gospel is all about walking.

Today's passage from Matthew 14:22-33 is all about walking. First, you have Jesus walking on the water, and the disciples thinking it was a ghost. "It is I; don't be scared" was his response.

Peter then says "Lord, if it is you (as if), command me to come to you on the water."

Jesus: "Come."

Peter started walking on the water...and then he sank.

Jesus says to us all: Walk! Follow me.

Jesus doesn't say how far, where, or when we can stop, or if we ever really stop.

Just said "Come" and "Follow me."

The rest is history...or story.

Buen Camino!

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