Pilgrimage
Walking down the roads of Rome and Assisi,
The pilgrims leave their mark,
On slippery pavement,
Some for the first time,
Others repeat offenders.
Instructors stand at the front,
Beaming guidance to the hungry minds and hearts,
Providing instructions to untangle knots of the past,
Dispelling historical rumors mistaken for facts,
With humor and glee from past and personal revelations.
Some is still unknown, and that’s OK,
For the past is still mystery to those who have not experienced it
Even when we try, to live it vicariously, through those we admire.
While some fishing lines remain tangled, others free themselves with ease.
Some knot themselves anew.
Meanwhile, tired legs are showered with liturgy and pamphlets like confetti from above,
Spreading meaning in hints and clues to be revisited,
At some future time, when the planes have landed,
A workshop of revelation to be done by another;
And the soul is ready to receive new mountains of grace.
Some pilgrims are in spiritual overload,
Where there has been little feeding in recent times.
Or where rods were cast by others in the ponds
And we are left to fish,
And wonder.
Who is the catch now; the fisher or the fish?
The shepherd or the sheep?
Or are we just rather issuing fishing licenses,
Or a sheepdog responding to the Shepard’s whistle.
All to be revealed in good time.
By another. The one within.
Who will.
Paint it and we may see.
Speak it and we may hear.
Do it and so we may follow
Meanwhile, The tourists fidget in the silence
And others show off their insight by talking
Each wanting to be affected by their futile wills
Not looking for the one within who is waiting to talk in a small voice, the least noise in the building.
Shouting to us, in a San Damiano whisper.
It is in the sacred spaces within that the real work begins,
That changes us forever, one Assisi millimeter at a time.
Almost indistinguishable from one day to another.
Meanwhile, the pilgrim leaders deal cards from a grace-filled and stacked deck,
But do not cajole the pilgrims into battle.
Leaving the real action to the Holy Spirit.
