We Are All Travelers

” Our eating together with family, community, colleagues, or strangers can also be less than perfect. But I wonder if the real proof of our Christian life is simply whom we would be willing to sit with at table. For whenever we receive others, however different they are from us, they become our traveling companions, and in this world below we are all travelers. “

Less than perfect. That is truly all of us. We are all in need of a little “work” to make us a better version of ourselves.

At the end of a long day of walking on the Camino, often Terri and I after cleaning up, would sit down for a meal together with our fellow pilgrims. It was fun to talk to folks you had not met before or ones you were walking with for some time. They would be from all over the world as well. All of us sitting together at table, less than perfect, and yet traveling pilgrims with one focus, getting to Santiago de Compostela, our destination city.

I liked the quote because it spoke to my core belief. That we are all less than perfect, and on a walk to our “telos” (Greek for “end”, or “purpose”), which I believe is becoming the “best version of ourselves”. Why should we not sit together at table? We are all on a journey and we are all travelers and traveling companions. I guess that is why I liked the name of my blog, “We Are All Pilgrims”. For, I do believe, we are all pilgrims.

Easter Blessings to you all,

John

Photograph of the Week

Tulip Visions

This image was taken a few weeks ago on a cold and wet day up in the Skagit. I used my creative vision in the “digital darkroom” to make this final image.

 

Context

“I love context. The reason I love context is because context shows us the true value of things. And out of that tends to spring our priorities.” Matthew Kelley

One of the gifts we received, when we walked the Camino, was the ability to see our lives in context. There is nothing like getting out of your daily routines and busy pace of life to get better context on your life. It seems that in our busyness and fast pace of our lives, we can struggle to find time to get context in our life. We can not “see the forest for the trees”.

One of the other ways we find context in our lives is when we are hit with a sudden change, a tragedy, someone we love, gets sick or dies. This also tends to help us get context. Context shows us the true value of things. I used to have a boss at Boeing that used the term, “re-framing your reality”.

It seems to me that one of the beautiful and freeing things about context, is the clarity that comes to you. You see things anew and fresh, maybe for the first time. For me, the Camino walk, re-framed my reality, I was able to see with clarity what life after Boeing might look like and what things were important to focus on after our walk. When we finished the walk, I was ready to begin anew with my priorities re-arranged.

Context is a beautiful thing! We are constantly re-discovering it and that is a good thing.

Blessings and all good,

John

Photograph of the Week

Turbulence

This image was entered into the Edmonds Art Festival Juried Art competition, in 2017 and was one of the ones chosen to be displayed. It was taken during a winter beach walk in Manzanita Beach, Oregon.