Preparing for the Conversation
Assignment for this week:
- Please read Chapter 2 of Chasing Francis
Reflection Questions:
- Traditionally, pilgrimages have been understood as physical journeys that mirror and energize an inner spiritual journey. Have you ever made a journey like this and what was your experience?
- If you could design a pilgrimage, where would you go and what would you do?
- Chase’s Uncle Kenny implies that there is a big difference between people on a spiritual journey who are pilgrims and those who are merely tourists. How would you define the difference between a pilgrim and a tourist?
- How do you relate to the following statements:
The journey which prior to this was torture because all you wanted to do was get there, is now beginning to become a pleasure. It is the pleasure of searching and the pleasure of an adventure. You are nourishing something that’s very important – your dreams.
We must never stop dreaming. Dreams provide nourishment for the soul, just as a meal does for the body. Many times in our lives see our dreams shattered and our desires frustrated, but we have to continue dreaming. If we don’t, our soul dies, and agape cannot reach it.
― Paulo Coelho, The Pilgrimage - Michelle Obama writes: “For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.”
How do you think about your own personal journey in life. Are you settled or on the move? - What practices of faith nourish your spiritual journey?