Last Friday's 5

I love the Friday 5.

1.) Have I ever been on a Pilgrimage?
In 1994, I went with a group of students to Italy to study Christian art & architecture. We went to Rome, Assisi and Florence. It was very much like a pilgrimage being in places where people of faith had been many years prior and left their mark in carvings, frescoes, paintings, stained glass, sculptures and more.

2.)Share a place you have always wanted to go on a pilgrimage to.
The Holy Land

3.)What would you make sure to pack in your suitcase or backpack to make the pilgrimage more meaningful? Or does "stuff" just distract from the experience?
From my trip to Italy, I learned that a backpack would be much better than a suitcase! Clean underwear and a good camera is a must.

4.) If you could make a pilgrimage with someone (live, dead or fictional) as your guide, who would it be?
My grandmother. She was such an important person in my life and she died when I was 11. I would love to share a pilgrimage with her.

5.)Eventually the pilgrim must return home, but can you suggest any strategies for keeping that deep "mountaintop" perspective in the midst of everyday life?
I think pictures help a lot. If you can keep a journal on your journey, that always is refreshing to go back and read.

When I was in Assisi, there was an artist doing a watercolor landscape with the Prayer of St. Francis scripted on it. It was one of my most favorite things that I brought back. Looking at it gave me a feeling that I had about Assisi. One of my good friends, who was unable to afford the trip, loved the picture. So when she graduated from college, I gave it to her as a present. She moved to KY for Seminary and I stayed in TX for Seminary. Four years later, when I graduated with my M.Div., a package from her showed up on my doorsteps. I opened it to find that precious picture.

So maybe you should try to find something special from your pilgrimage to give away--never know when or how it will come back to you and increase that "mountaintop" experience.

Journey on...