{"id":2626,"date":"2007-09-14T00:30:18","date_gmt":"2007-09-14T00:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2007\/09\/friday-is-for-friends-56.html"},"modified":"2007-09-14T00:30:18","modified_gmt":"2007-09-14T00:30:18","slug":"friday-is-for-friends-56","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2007\/09\/friday-is-for-friends-56.html","title":{"rendered":"Friday is for Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever taken a pilgrimage or a retreat? Tracy’s Balzer’s book, Thin Places,<\/a>\"\", has a chp on how the ancient Celtic Christians took pilgrimages. She joins Tom Wright<\/a>\"\"in encouraging us to reconsider the value of retreats and pilgrimages.
\nHave you experimented with pilgrimage? What value have you found in pilgrimages? What are your favorite places for pilgrimages or retreats?
\nTracy enters this discussion by distinguishing tourism or vacations from pilgrimages. A difference, but not the only, is between asking “what did you do or what did you see?” or “what did your trip mean?”
\nCeltic Christians sometimes traveled without a distinct location or destiny in mind. They traveled to hear from God. And of course some fine Celtic prayers derived from such pilgrimages:
\nThe compassing of God be on thee,
\nThe compassing of the God of life.
\nThe compassing of Christ be on thee,
\nThe compassing of the Christ of love.
\nThe compassing of Spirit be on thee,
\nThe compassing of the Spirit of Grace.
\nThe compassing of the Three be on thee,
\nThe compassing of the Three preserve thee,
\nThe compassing of the Three preserve thee.<\/em>
\nShe mentions Abraham and Moses and the desert fathers and mothers. Why did they do this? To accomplish the mission of God, for purification and discipline, and sometimes — like St Patrick — to evangelize.
\nOne of my favorite ideas in this chp is that pilgrimage turns a “place into text.” For many Iona or Northumbria are places that have become texts. What about you? Any places that are now texts?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever taken a pilgrimage or a retreat? Tracy’s Balzer’s book, Thin Places,, has a chp on how the ancient Celtic Christians took pilgrimages. She joins Tom Wrightin encouraging us to reconsider the value of retreats and pilgrimages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-prayer-and-formation"],"yoast_head":"\nFriday is for Friends - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2007\/09\/friday-is-for-friends-56.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Friday is for Friends - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Have you ever taken a pilgrimage or a retreat? 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She joins Tom Wrightin encouraging us to reconsider the value of retreats and pilgrimages.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2007\/09\/friday-is-for-friends-56.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-09-14T00:30:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jescre-20&l=ur2&o=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"xscot mcknight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Friday is for Friends - Jesus Creed","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2007\/09\/friday-is-for-friends-56.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Friday is for Friends - Jesus Creed","og_description":"Have you ever taken a pilgrimage or a retreat? 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