Pilgrimage as Prophetic Profound Protest

I have enough ego to feel like every blog post I pen is my most important. But this one really does feel like it is one of my more important posts. It gets to the very heart of the work I am doing around nurturing a pilgrimage culture. And, quite honestly, I am betting the whole bank on my intuitive assumptions. When all of this comes out in the wash of history I am quite sure that I am either going to get this very, very right or laughably, embarrassingly wrong.

Let me explain. Two years ago when I first began exploring the idea of repurposing churches as hostels for traveling pilgrims there was great support among many in the community. But one consistent cautionary criticism was leveled by some of the most innovative people I know. People I respect and trust.

Essentially the feedback sounded something like this: “That’s a really cool idea, Brian, but pilgrimages are a luxury item for financially secure white Americans. This idea not only does nothing to address the colonizing DNA of our culture. It only reinforces it.”

Let me say that I get the criticism. But, quite honestly, I don’t believe my good justice-seeking innovative friends are looking deeply enough. In fact, I believe they can’t even see the colonizing imperialism of their own statements.

Their concern is that many of the minorities (African-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, immigrants) of America don’t have the financial resources and relative wealth to do something as luxurious as a six-week pilgrimage that might cost $3,000 along with potential income losses.

I totally get that. But in their assumption is the belief that our energy and resources should go into leveling the playing field until those without resources can also enjoy the luxury of personal growth pilgrimages. “Why repurpose churches for an activity that only reinforces white privilege,” seems to be their concern. First, level the playing field so all people have such wealth and access, is what I am hearing.

And this is where I am betting the whole bank on this concept. I also believe in leveling the playing field. But rather than trying to bring other ethnic groups up to the standards of a largely white upper class I believe that the white upper class needs to learn to adopt the values of cultures that, quite frankly, have a healthier relationship to the land and to the people of their own communities.

I am a leveler too. But it’s our turn to raise ourselves up to the values of cultures that have more sustainable practices, a mutual relationship with the land, and who prioritize spiritual health over material wealth.

The comment is that “pilgrimages are a luxury for the well-off.” That is true as long as one assumes that one must first secure their financial life with a well-paying job, home ownership, six months of savings in the bank, medical coverage, a college savings plan, and good retirement planning.

You see, all of those things represent the values of a white European colonizing imperialistic culture built on capitalism and the concept of private property. Truly, IF all of those things have to be present first, THEN, yes, pilgrimages are a luxury limited to the well off. They would be on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs on the top tier of the triangle—self-esteem and self-actualization.

This is where I am betting the whole bank on this concept: I believe our deep and urgent work is not to lift other ethnic groups up to the material standard of living that many white people enjoy. Our work is to dismantle the assumptions underlying our economic model that keeps the average person from simply being able to take a long, reflective walk across the land (as well as other simple pleasures in life).

Seriously, listen to that statement: In America, taking a walk across the land is a luxury reserved for only the very well off. Somebody forgot to tell Forest Gump that!

When did we go so far off track that we can’t even attend to our deep spiritual and psychological needs until all of our material needs have been met twofold, fivefold, tenfold? As a child walking is one of the first developmental tasks. But as an adult, walking seems to become a luxury for those who aren’t forced to work on the “chain gang” of our economic model.

The assumption is If you want to do something as simple as take a long walk you better damned well first secure a job, a home, a college education, medical coverage and a retirement plan. THEN, feel free to walk all you want…if you are still alive!

Walking should not be a privilege, but a basic human right.

Pilgrimages are not luxury vacations. They are prophetic, profound protests against a culture that has all but stolen the most basic human right we have—to simply walk and meander on the dirt that sustains us and to honor Mother Earth with our feet and our presence.

White Americans have done it before. But, last time we did it to steal the land. Now we need to do it to confess, to lament, to reflect, and to heal our relationship with ourselves, our neighbors and with the land.

Pilgrimages are not a luxury.

In this culture they are prophetic. They are profound. They are protest.

Brian Heron

Religious Innovator and Spiritual Pilgrim