Pilgrims

 “Want to take a road trip pilgrimage?” my friend asked me.

“Where?” I said to her.

“Cross-country,” she answered.

“I’m game!”

That was the start of a three week adventure. Don’t let anyone ever tell you it isn’t possible. We drove from the east coast to the west coast (and back)! Yes, readers, you could too. All it takes is the choice to do so, since we make time for what we want to make time for. 

We visited so many holy places and threw in some sight seeing for good measure. The most interesting part about the trip to me was the fact that we were pilgrims. Everyone we told where we were going and where we came from thought we were crazy. “You drove from where?!” followed by laughter. Yet, what is a pilgrim anyway? Someone who journeys to sacred destinations…and that doesn’t necessarily mean around the corner. 

We are on a pilgrimage through life and this trip taught me how much the Providence of God is active in our lives. We just get too busy and caught up in life’s affairs to notice. He goes ahead of us, something I saw time after time when we would meet someone and they pushed us onward. Onward, because we are ever moving closer and closer to eternity. 

“Don’t waste the time you are given,” one Sister told me. Life is short and this life is about growing closer and closer to God, and a pilgrimage teaches us just that. Anything that doesn’t lead us to Him is a sheer waste of time…