Dear Friends in Christ,
Tomorrow afternoon, our Journey to Adulthood pilgrims will depart for Alaska. The trip will be exciting–but not because of glaciers, grizzly bears, or the midnight sun. The real landscape is within.
Our teenagers have been preparing for this moment for two years. For the first year, they did not have a destination; instead, they were focused on community-building and spiritual growth as individuals. Only once those processes were well underway did they begin to focus on the details of the trip—where they were going and what they might do while they were there. They have been ably guided in their work by adult sponsors Alison Campbell, Chad Eckels, and Lauren Gustafson.
The reason for this sort of preparation is that this trip is not just a trip. It is a journey with God—a trip inward as well as outward, a pilgrimage taken with desire and intent.
One of the visions that Father Santi brought with him to Grace is the idea that pilgrimage might become a more widespread experience at Grace, a spiritual discipline for adults as well as teenagers. He and I have been making plans to foster this practice. Look for more from us in the months to come.
In the meantime, please pray for our pilgrims. They are sustained by those prayers in ways they may never know or understand.
I hope they will travel boldly—and I hope that we will all be changed by their adventure.
Yours in Christ,
Anne