The Pilgrimage Begins - Listen




“This spiritual journey also involves leaving something behind. It involves letting go, trusting that what we love will somehow be okay without our being there. Pilgrimage from the very beginning, and of its very nature, involves surrender—surrender to a power beyond ourselves, a power we trust in, a power we are both leaving behind to care for those we love and that at the same time is drawing us away from them to another place that will help us better relate and love.”
Father Murray Bodo, the Road to Mount Subasio





Tonight the pilgrimage began.

Before our first dinner together, we met our guide, Iyad, and John, our driver -  Palestinian Christians who will shepherd us on the pilgrimage journey. We gave them gifts from Cincinnati and San Francisco, bourbon and wine, respectively, along with Cincinnati Bengals t-shirts and Golden State Warriors drinking glasses.  

Our beloved Diana Aldrich cross-stitched bookmarks for all of us, including special ones for John and Iyad. 

As the Passover celebrations were carrying on overhead, we gathered for a time of reflection to consider what we needed to let go of in order to enter into this sacred place and time. As we did, we were instructed to "listen with the ear of our hearts."

You may wonder what this means.

Obsculta, listen carefully, is the first word of guidance written by St. Benedict, the 6th-century founder of western monasticism, in his seminal Rule.  It continues, inclina aurem cordis tui - "Listen by inclining the ear of your heart." 

The idea is to listen not with the mind but with the soul. It is an invitation to attend to the mystical, the emotional, the spiritual - the inner life, if you will. It is most often the realm where God whispers, heals, and directs.  

Each of us chose a polished quartz rock to use as a concrete reminder to "listen with the ear of our hearts." 

As we begin this journey, we are wondering how God will speak to us.

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