"The Courage to Go" - A Reflection from Rev. Dr. Christy Newton

6 minutes ago

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Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you…I’ve often wondered how Abram and Sarai took that first step…What empowered them? What strengthened them? How did they know they were doing the right thing? What were they seeking? What gave them the courage to go?

Abram was 75 years old. He and Sarai packed everything and everyone up…and stepped out…on that journey, that pilgrimage, that walk of faith…following a word, a call, an invitation, a command, a challenge, a lure. They could not have known what lay ahead. What obstacles, what opportunities, what insights would emerge. And still they went, as God had led them. And their willingness to become pilgrims in this way, following God’s call, demonstrates great courage. Courage that we are also invited to exercise today by walking in the paths that God invites us to imagine and dream.

Pilgrimage is an immersive, embodied, multisensory experience. It is more than mere travel to a sacred site; it requires deep engagement, active yielding to new ideas, openness to transformation. Pilgrimage is also — at its most poignant — an embodied integration of spirituality and justice.

This past summer I went on a pilgrimage with my family to Greece and Turkey, and I have come back renewed, challenged, and transformed. We did see some amazing historical sites, ruins, and monuments, but beyond that, we experienced an incredible consciousness-raising regarding our interconnectedness with others and the deep, revelatory layering of history, religion, and culture. On our first night in Istanbul, Turkey, I was woken up at 4:30 a.m. by rhythmic chanting that was piped throughout the city, calling for prayer. I soon found myself at deep peace with the five or six daily calls to prayer that instilled a sacred cadence to our days. They reminded me that we are part of something much larger than me and my schedule and my plans. We belong to one another and the sacredness all around us. Whether we are in the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern, the cave churches in Cappadocia, Rumi’s home in Konya, the world’s oldest known temple site at Gobekli Tepe, Sardis, Pergamon, Ephesus, Stratonikeia, or whether we are in classes at Claremont School of Theology, Pacific School of Religion, Iliff School of Theology, or otherwise going about our days in the United States. I can still hear that guttural call to prayer and see the faces of the men and women in the Grand Bazaar, the cats treated as royalty sitting on rich, deeply colored rugs, and the vast array of olives, spices, and sweets for sale on the street. Over menemen or kunefe and Turkish tea, we had profound conversations about gender roles, religion, war, economics, history, and hospitality. I felt deeply humbled to learn from our new friends from vastly different backgrounds, experiences, and spiritualities.

Now, I am engaged in the work of integration and trying to find outward expressions for my learning. Part of pilgrimage is often translating and helping guide others to where we have been, sharing learnings, ideas, hopes, possibilities. DSF is excited to start envisioning and developing pilgrimage opportunities for our students, alumni, supporters, and friends. We are all pilgrims on life’s journey, and DSF is called to accompany our community and to curate opportunities to awaken our spirits and to deepen and widen our worldviews.

Although God’s calling to each of us is unique, just like Abram and Sarai, each one of us is a pilgrim seeking something. Perhaps it is courage. Perhaps peace. Perhaps you are seeking rest or restoration or reconciliation with someone or connection or belonging. It could be something very specific or something more general. What are you seeking on your pilgrimage?

And as you go, perhaps DSF can support you along the way — calling attention to the sacred nature of your journey — signaling that none of us is alone and drawing attention to the beauty and holiness all around us. After all, this is something DSF has done well for almost 70 years: honoring God’s call and making space for that call to transform each one of us and our world.