THE EXTRA MILE – A 21st Century Pilgrimage by Peter Stanford -published by Continuum ISBN 978–0–8264–3404 –3
Peter Stanford acknowledges that he is not a “non-religious seeker”; neither am I. In Celtic Daily Prayer are the words, “There are some common tasks that we all engage in: looking for signposts to tell us where we are; trying to make sense of what we have already experienced along the way; and seeking to know what lies ahead and at journeys end. Life, in short, is a pilgrimage”.
Would this author’s experiences at various UK religious sites (Christian and others) encourage me on my pilgrimage in times when institutional religion is waning whilst a spiritual hunger among all ages is increasing? My brow furrowed at the words, “the logic of most faiths is that, in everyday life, the sacred is always just beyond our reach”. As someone imbued with Celtic Christianity, I would rather affirm the sacred within everyday things! My concern eased as he relates his experiences and meetings at Stonehenge, Bardsey Island, the Derbyshire Wells, Walsingham, Holywell, Iona, Lindisfarne and Glastonbury; among people carrying their hopes and fears, joys and sorrows.
Pilgrimage might be something that we do, maybe with mixed motives, but the very act of pilgrimage does something to us. Be encouraged to read this book; the author’s own experience is caught in the words (quoted from RS Thomas), “I think that maybe I will be a little surer of being a little nearer. That’s all. Eternity is in the understanding that that little is more than enough.
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