Fresh from a wonderful send off at church, where my family received cards from St. Stephen’s parishioners and were prayed over at the end of worship by Bishop Charlie vonRonsenberg, I now sit at the airport in Atlanta awaiting my flight to Rome.
My traveling companion, Adam, flew in shortly after I arrived and we found each other in the international terminal. So, the first part of this pilgrimage can officially be declared a success! It is a cold and rainy evening here in north Georgia but that does not appear to be effecting our departure.
I have always loved to travel not only because of the anticipated destination but also because of the liminal space of airports. While writing this post, I am surrounded by a diverse melange of people coming and going from every destination imaginable. Perhaps, there are others around me on a similar journey preparing to rendezvous with family for the first time? There is just something about the path that is almost as exciting as the end point. As we depart, I am reminded of Psalm 84:5: “Blessed are those … whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.”
In beginning this long anticipated adventure and boarding my flight to Rome en route to Cairo, I find myself reflecting upon a quote by the French philosopher, Simone Weil that was shared by a member of my church. Weil writes, “To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul. It is one of the hardest to define. A human being has roots by virtue of our real, active and natural participation in the life of a community which preserves in living shape certain particular treasures of the past and certain particular expectations for the future. This participation is a natural one, in the sense that it is automatically brought about by place, conditions of birth, profession and social surroundings. Every human being needs to have multiple roots. It is necessary for us to draw well-nigh the whole of our moral, intellectual and spiritual life by way of the environment of which we form a natural part.”
It is finally time for me to dig deep into the soil and tend the roots planted by my mother decades ago. It is time to explore and learn about them not only to preserve treasures of the past but to continue to shape my “moral, intellectual, and spiritual life” well into the future.
Who knows what the days hold but I look forward to this pilgrimage! Thanks for following along.
I’ll post next in Cairo!
Finding my Egyptian Roots 