To Be a Pilgrim

To be a pilgrim is, the authors believe, the hope of every person, and has been since the dawn of human­ity: 'People have a natural drive - it is within us all - to move, mentally, spiritually and also physi­cally. The hope is that there is always something else, in a new adventure, a new place and through meeting new people. The outer journey of going to new places and of meeting new challenges and over­coming hard­ships mirrors the inner journey of prayer, medi­ta­tion, contem­plation and simply being alone with God.'

This wide-ranging and compre­hen­sive resource seeks to inform, instruct and inspire those looking to take on the spiritual, mental and physical challenge of pil­grimage. The book deals with pil­grimage both in its traditional religious sense of a journey to a sacred place, and also in the broader sense of retreats, journeys to unfamiliar places, exposure to new ideas, people and cultures, and the pilgrimage of life itself.

In each of the sections writers from varied back­grounds and cultures share their experiences and insights.

• The inner journey
• The journey of life
• Pilgrimage in the faith traditions
• Meeting the stranger
• Journey for justice and peace
• Following in the footsteps
• Special times
• Spirit of place
• Pilgrim tools
• Children and pilgrimage
• Practical pointers for pilgrimage

In his Foreword, Gerard W. Hughes writes: 'This book contains fascinating and varied accounts of pilgrimage, some lasting a day or less, others lasting months, some to holy places, others to places of tragedy such as Auschwitz and Hiroshima, while other forms of pilgrimage have no particular destination.'