“We shall not cease from exploration…”
In my early years of teaching middle grade girls at Visitation Academy in St. Louis, I once decorated the September classroom bulletin board with the Chinese proverb, “A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With a Single Step”. I’ve always been drawn to the theme of “journey” or “pilgrimage” as a metaphor for life, so much so that when I made my final vows as a Visitation Sister in 1971, the front of my invitation read, “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time…” (T.S. Eliot)
“With the “spiritual“ compass given us through our Baptism, we are active participants, and it is through our choices that our life pilgrimage reaches its goal.”
What is it about a pilgrimage that is so evocative? Maybe it’s because our whole life is like a pilgrimage. The people, events and experiences on this journey are not “dumped” on us as if we were passive recipients of some destiny outside ourselves. With the “spiritual“ compass given us through our Baptism, we are active participants, and it is through our choices that our life pilgrimage reaches its goal.
When I hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, I was aware that it was essential to be very observant and deliberate about each “next” step. Other times, like when I was recovering from a broken ankle and had to keep my foot elevated for a few weeks, those steps became more like a metaphor for an inner walk that requires a different type of attentiveness.
Currently I’m doing some remote preparation for a golden marker moment on my life pilgrimage. Next June 6, 2016, I will celebrate my 50th anniversary of religious profession. As part of this preparation, I will occasionally share some reflections on this blog about the people, events and experiences of my life as a Visitation Sister. Please feel free to respond to my musings!
Sr. Karen Mohan
In the spirit of “pilgrimage”, I will end with one of my favorite poems from Wendell Berry:
We travellers, walking to the sun, can’t see
Ahead, but looking back the very light
That blinded us shows us the way we came,
Along which blessings now appear, risen
As if from sightlessness to sight, and we,
By blessing brightly lit, keep going toward
That blessed light that yet to us is dark.
2 Comments
Cody M. · November 2, 2015 at 1:11 am
Looking forward to celebrating this year with you, S. Karen! Thanks for inviting us along this pilgrimage.
L+J,
Cody
Brigid · November 3, 2015 at 10:53 pm
I too look forward to celebrating this year with you, Sister Karen! How blessed are we that you embarked on the pilgrimage you did! Love to you!
Love-Brigid