What is the difference between a pilgrimage and a journey

A journey made to a sacred place, or a religious journey. Pilgrimage is a concept as old as humanity itself. Human beings, across cultural and religious boundaries, historical and economical spectrums, regardless of race or gender, have been taking pilgrimages from time immemorial. Unlike many beautiful wilderness long-distance walks where the inner journey takes place in nature, traditional pilgrimages are often dotted with small, roadside shrines along the way like this tiny chapel in Galicia in the deep snow of the Camino.

The walking is just the introductory part of it then you have to deal with your experiences in your life afterwards. Everything has changed. Have I changed as a person? When you start your Camino, you fill out a form and tick a box es about your reason for doing the pilgrimage: sporting, cultural, religious or spiritual.

And when you apply for your Compostela in Santi- ago, they ask you the same question: Why did you do it? The original meaning of religion Latin religere means to reconnect. For me religion means reconnecting with the world we come from, which we can call the spirit world or the world of God. When I started walking in Hol- land, I had no religious reasons in mind at all. But doing the Camino there was a very strong sense of religiosity, of trying to reconnect with a spirit being or the world of God.

Being a pilgrim in medieval times was not just about going on an adventurous journey — it was a choice of a change of life.

And can a track be a sanctuary? A refuge and a sacred place at the same time? For that to be true you need to recognise the sacredness of the place and at the same time you need to respond to the vocation of being a pilgrim, not only for that time, but from then on.

Another distinction between a hike and a pilgrimage is the notion of pilgrim hospitality. In the refugios run by hospitaleros voluntarios, payment is strictly on a donation basis. It is a human relationship, not an economic one. As Jesus designed them in Luke 9 and 10, you set out without knowing where you were going, where you were staying, or how you'd be eating.

He designed kingdom journeys as an adventure in expanding your faith, bringing what you didn't possess to gain what no one could ever take away. Have you been on a kingdom journey that looks like those Jesus designed? If not, why not ask him to send you on one? Everyone deserves to test God's goodness in that profound way at least once in their lives. Add Your comments: Any inappropriate comments may be removed. Use this form only to comment on the article that you just read.

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