Pilgrim journeys

IN 2012, I walked the pilgrim way to Santiago in Spain.

It was a chance to spend time away, connecting with nature at three miles per hour, testing my limbs and seeking refreshment from the Spirit, that I knew from previous pilgrimages, is always close at hand.

There were many rich encounters and I tuned into an ancient spiritual tradition once very common in Scotland.

There were probably good reasons for ending pilgrimages in the 16th century. However, many will testify to a profound encounter with the Spirit as they travel. ‘Home is the journey’, pilgrims often say, rather than the place of arrival. This echoes what happened to the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus, who felt their ‘hearts burning within them’ as they walked and talked with a stranger along the way. A deep spiritual awakening can happen even to those who do not consider themselves people of faith.

One day, on the Camino de Santiago, a companion challenged me when I suggested there was a crisis of faith in the west. ‘Look at all these people!’ she said. ‘There is no crisis of faith, only a crisis of faith in the institutions of religion’. At least a quarter of a million people walk to Santiago every year.

In the late summer of 2022, I walked along the West Highland Way with a group who have faced many challenges in life. It was a time to hear people’s stories. Many on that walk who had experienced trauma spoke of their faith and how the Spirit had proved to be ‘a very present help in times of trouble’ and had carried them through whatever they had faced.

I realised how right my pilgrim companion was, as few of the people on that walk were church members. It was humbling to realise that the Spirit is at work in spite of us. Frequently, I find that rather than taking Jesus with me, I bump into Him already at work in the world. It felt that my task on that journey was simply to be a presence, enabling people to share their stories about how the Spirit was at work in their lives.

So many people struggle with the habits, rituals and doctrines of the church, so it is good to find complementary ways of ministering to those on the edge. Out in the green, Scotland’s landscape adds another dimension too, as it is full of the story of our faith through the centuries written in stones, places and people.

At the time of the Protestant Reformation, pilgrimage fell out of favour. Thankfully, it is making a comeback with new routes opening throughout Scotland. There is also a Pilgrim Pastor appointed to encourage faith journeys along the recently opened Fife Pilgrim Way and the General Assembly formally encouraged pilgrimage back in 2017.

When John Knox wrote the Scots Confession in 1560, he invited his readers to tell him if he had made any errors. There is telling humility in that comment and it might just be that banning pilgrimage was one mistake. After all, there is a recurrent theme in the Bible of people, from Elijah to Jesus, taking themselves away to remote places to listen to the wind of the Spirit.

At a time when nature needs our careful tending, as do so many people on the edge who might struggle with church, but not with faith, pilgrim journeys through our culturally rich and beautiful landscape is one way of renewing our mission to the people of Scotland. I wonder what else our forebears got wrong? ¤

The Rev Dr Richard Frazer is minister at Edinburgh: Greyfriars.