Category: The world through which we travel-Relationsip with Creation and the Universe
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The Pilgrim’s Work of Being Surprised
Early one morning, I walked around Sequiota Park, where I live. The park was quiet, with few people about. In summer, the lake is filled with ducks. As I walked beside it, I prayed, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” No bolts of lightning or voices from…
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The Pilgrim Continues His Way
Lord Jesus Christ, Teach Me to See — Part 7 Teach Me to See Creation and Relationship I love doing crossword puzzles and jigsaw puzzles. I begin every morning with the daily crossword. When I finally fill in the last answer, I am amazed at how all the words fit together. A jigsaw puzzle is…
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The School of Prayer: Have Mercy on Me
Project: The Pilgrim Continues His WaySeries: With Christ in the School of PrayerUnceasing Prayer, Part 2 Source: The Pilgrim Continues His Way, Author Unknown, translated by Olga Savin, Shambhala, Boulder, 2001. In the Sixth Meeting of The Pilgrim Continues His Way, the Pilgrim and the Professor find themselves in a school of prayer. Their teacher…
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Saints — September 18, 2026
Robert Lewis Dabney (1820–1898) Lord Jesus Christ, Teach Me to See Come sit with me on the front porch for a while. This may not be the most comfortable conversation we have had. Robert Lewis Dabney was a remarkable man in many ways. Born in Virginia in 1820, he became a Presbyterian minister, theologian, professor,…
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Willing Myself to Love
Godfrey Dickmann — April 7, 1908–February 22, 2002Saint for September 15, 2026Source: A Year With the American Saints, G. Scott Cady and Christopher L. Webber, Church Publishing, 2006 Godfrey Dickmann was born into a family of eight children, the son of German emigrés from Westphalia. He was baptized Leo. At eighteen, he entered the Benedictine…
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A Year with American Saints — September 13, 2026
Albert Benjamin Simpson December 15, 1843 – October 29, 1919 Albert Benjamin Simpson was a man of tremendous zeal. Born on a barren farm in western Ontario, Canada, Simpson worked as a teacher to earn money for his education and graduated from college with honors. Feeling called to ministry, at only twenty-two he became pastor…
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Lest We Forget — And Still We Press On
A September 11 ReflectionThe Curious Pilgrim — September 11, 2026 Tomorrow is September 11. In the United States, it is a day of remembrance. We remember the lives lost on September 11, 2001. We remember the airplanes. We remember the buildings. We remember the smoke. We remember the fear. And those of us who were…
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The Greek Monk from Holy Mount Athos
Reflections on “The Pilgrim’s Account of the Fifth Meeting” from The Pilgrim Continues His Way When the Pilgrim left the Russian coaching inn, he had just experienced a difficult encounter with an Old Believer. The two men disagreed about religion. Each believed his understanding of the Church was correct. The Pilgrim decided that arguing would…
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I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked
There is an old hymn that has followed me for many years: I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked. The hymn was written from the perspective of a pilgrim walking through the Holy Land, remembering the places associated with the life of Jesus. I have always loved it. Years ago, when I was a pastor, I…
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A Religion to Defend or a Jesus to Follow?
Today I read about Francis Makemie in A Year with American Saints. Makemie was a Presbyterian minister who came to America from Northern Ireland in the seventeenth century. He became an important leader among early American Presbyterians and is often called the Father of American Presbyterianism. But something about his story caught my attention. Makemie…
