When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority . . . and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and . . . told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere. (Luke 9:1-6)
Jesus calls us to travel lightly in this world, viewing of life of faith as a journey. As of Tuesday, July 28, 2015, Trina and I will be on Sabbatical journey, a pilgrimage to places of faith, hope and love. The lead photo shows the contents of what I’ll carry in my backpack and daypack (shown on the right side of the photo). Other contents include (from right to left): worship and praise songbook from Community Church, water bottle, kindle (loaded with over 100 books of my sabbatical library as well as books for leisure reading), coin purse, sun glass case, Bible, orange journal, “wallet” neck pouch, documents of bookings (in ziplock bag), travel cribbage, mesh bag for electronics (adapters/electronic cords/external hard-drive backup), framed photo of Haystack Rock to give as wedding gift to Danish family member who recently was married, Soul Mentoring books (I wrote and was recently published) to give away, hygiene kit, maps of Denmark and Burgundy, gift CDs to give (by the amazing Cannon Beach guitarist Wes Wahrmund, whose music is available at https://weswahrmund.bandcamp.com/music), 4×6 framed photos of Cannon Beach to give as hospitality gifts, laptop (macbook air 13″), clothes, hat. This may not seem like “traveling light”, but compared to the stuff we keep in our home in Cannon Beach, 30 pounds of “stuff” for a 3 months journey seems pretty light. As Rick Steves writes in his article “Packing Smart and Traveling Light”, “Remember, in your travels you’ll meet two kinds of travelers–those who pack light and those who wish they had.” Rick has some sage advise for those who are embarking on overseas travel here: https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/packing-light.
Bottom line for any sacred pilgrimage is simply that we travel by faith, with Christ as our Guide along the way. In my morning readings today, I read this prayer: “Show me the way, so that I may walk in your truth” (Psalm 86:11).