Who likes travelling to new places?
Going on a holiday or a trip to a new place or even a favourite old place?
People going on journeys like this are usually tourists.
Usually the journey lasts a few days or perhaps a few weeks.
Tourists are looking for a change in scenery or a different perspective on normal life, at least for a short time.
They are generally not trying to find a new way of life.
Today we’re talking about pilgrimage, which is different to being a tourist.
A pilgrim adopts a new place and new identity by learning a new language, rhythms and practices. Pilgrimage is not a temporary escape from life but an embrace of a deeper life, being transformed as a person.
Being a pilgrim means becoming someone new.
Pilgrimages lead somewhere – hopefully to a changed or transformed life. … That transformation is often communal.
The transformation also empowers pilgrims to change the world.