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Christianity Today, April, 2009 |

COVER PACKAGE

He Talked to Us on the Road

The surprising rewards of Christian travel.

Ted Olsen | posted 4/03/2009 09:01AM

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Travel, in other words, can jolt us. The "curiosity to see the new things" that so many medieval pilgrims were criticized for can actually help us see familiar things anew upon our return.

"We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves," travel journalist Pico Iyer wrote in his 2000 essay "Why We Travel." He's right, but it's much more basic than that, especially for the pilgrim who travels more to find God than to find himself. We travel, at first, to leave. Then, finally, we travel to come home.

Those who best journey today may not be those who are talking about their trips to Jerusalem, or to Iona, or to Santiago. They are probably those who talk about living and ministering in Overland Park or Beacon Hill. Those who are thinking about the space they inhabit as holy land. Those who have returned from Emmaus and understand that God doesn't only meet us on the road. Theirs is the God who said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them." A God who travels. And a God who dwells. A God who has made the whole world his holy land because he has made his people a holy people.

Ted Olsen is managing editor of news and online journalism at Christianity Today.

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Download a Bible study for this article at ChristianityTodayStore.com.

This story is part of our cover package on the surprising rewards of Christian travel. Other stories in the package include "Pilgrim's Regress" and "Pilgrimage Today."

Christianity Today has a special section on pilgrimage and travel.

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April 2009, Vol. 53, No. 4

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Sam	Posted: April 14, 2009 4:30 PM

Why do Protestants always have to try to justify everything? A pilgrimage is a beautiful thing. People in the OT did it and people in the New Covenant do. The whole purpose of the article seems to be to say that the Catholic practice was wrong because of the concept of merit. Well, show me one true Christian who does not offer up their work to God for His glory and that they maybe a blessing to others. This article shows that the author does not understand the Catholic doctrine of merit nor the Catholic practice of "penance". Of course we differ from Protestants on salvation, because we believed we are saved by Grace through faith that manifests itself in the work of love-thus we believe we were justified at baptism which gives us grace to live a holy Christian life. We must work out our salvation by living a life of faith. Thus we are saved, being saved and will be saved. Finally, all this aside, why can't Protestants simply enjoy anything they do? Do it for the glory of God at least!

Doranna

Posted: April 14, 2009 1:56 PM

Visiting Rachel's Tomb on the way to Bethlehem was an ephiphany, watching the women crying out to God to give them a child and mainly a son. I realized that in this age the Jewish women were still praying that they would deliver the Messiah. The saddness in that room was overwhelming because they did not know that the Messiah had come already. Daily I now pray for the Jewish and Muslim people that they would see Jesus.

Pastor A Pratapsingh

Posted: April 07, 2009 5:43 PM


While this is a well written article, there is no other substitute to the Word of God. Meditation of the Word of God offers a wholesome living. The Christian's pilgrimage is actually walking through the entire Bible.

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