Along The Way: A Pilgrim's Missive from Scot BowerScot Bower - 8 Nov 2006
Six months ago, my family and I said our good-byes and crossed the channel to Mainland Europe. We have learnt heaps during our first mobile season, making some mistakes as well as some good friends. One of our deepest learning experiences during this time has had to do with the concept of pilgrimage. To be honest, we thought it would be great to go and hang out in places significant to our Christian heritage. But we really didn’t have a clue about just how important these times would become to us. Pilgrimage (i.e. journeying and spending time in places where God has moved or is moving) is something we have grown to love. Let me tell you about one of our early pilgrimages which took us to Wittenberg, Germany.
En-route to Dresden, having planned to knock on the door of 24-7 Deutschland and try our usual “Err, hi. We’re travelling missionaries/pilgrims/idiots, any chance of a coffee?”, we sat in the sun planning our journey and spotted Wittenberg (the home of Luther and birthplace of the Reformation) just 100 kms to the north. We decide to put a quick call in to Mr Blues and his Swedish pilgrim crew. We arranged to meet in Wittenberg as soon as our elderly camper-vans would allow. Krister, Resa, Johan and Eva made excellent travelling companions (they are well used to detours and breakdowns!).
After a late afternoon ice-cream in a café opposite the schloss-kirche (the doors to which Luther nailed his 95 theses and changed the course of church history) in Wittenberg, we spent a night parked up beside the Elbe river. Over an Anglo/Norse breakfast (Flat bread and Marmite!) we compared mosquito bites and shared sting cream before heading into Wittenberg.
It is often said that pilgrimage is as much about the journey as the destination and whilst our night beside the Elbe was the worst nights sleep I have ever had, it will forever be part of our pilgrimage. One of the points of pilgrimage is that it isn’t easy. The effort of the journey is makes up an integral part of the whole experience. Later in our journey while in Austria, we would visit a splendid pilgrimage church at the top of a small mountain. The Linz residents decided the climb was too much of an effort and installed a funicular railway. Now the mountain attracts loads of visitors, but not many pilgrims.
Dead, Alive and Unborn
We visited 2 churches in Wittenberg; the first was the lifeless castle-church that bore the brunt of Luthers hammer attack. The schloss-kirche felt cold and imposing with its high vaulted ceiling and castle tower. Later we found ourselves in the lovely church of St Mary. This was a church in which Luther regularly preached. It felt warm and alive, posters advertised prayer meetings and worship times. We found a small prayer room and made ourselves at home.
The next day we met Markus Laegel and visited the old school his community were hoping to bring back to life. Breaking in through an open window we explored the building as Markus told us the dream they had for it. It was distant, yet somehow tangible. Our faith was rising and we spent time praying in the attic before leaving assured that we would return here again someday. In less than 24 hours we had visited three churches; one dead, one mature and another not yet born… maybe just a twinkle in his daddy’s eye!
We feel really privileged to be able to pilgrimage like this across Europe, but the fact is that you can pilgrimage pretty much anywhere. Find a local Monastery, Abbey or Cathedral and go for a visit. Allow the journey to be an effort. Get up early and walk or cycle there. Ask God to speak to you through the journey as well as being with you at the destination. I got as much out of our dour night beside the Elbe as I did in historic Wittenberg.
