Star Newsletter Archives ⋆ Page 2 of 2 ⋆ East Hills Moravian Church

For me, commercial air travel is something to be endured rather than anticipated. If I have the time, I much prefer to travel by car, ship, or train.

True, an airplane is a rapid, sometimes economical, way to cover long distances between two points. But once the novelty of flight has worn off, flying can become merely a means to an end – a way to get to one’s destination and back when one is in a hurry. Travelling forty thousand feet above the earth at an airspeed of 500 knots it’s hard to admire the scenery.

By way of contrast, the last time I crossed our nation by rail I witnessed the gradual changes of landscape as I journeyed from the East Coast’s rolling hills, to the open agricultural heartland of America, across prairies, desserts, and mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Modern homes look more alike all the time, yet each region of the United States still maintains bits of its distinctive architecture. Travelling at a slower rate of speed I also had more time to meet new people and have conversations with them over meals in the train’s dining car or as we watched western pronghorn antelope out the windows of the observation car.

The liturgical season of Lent is an opportunity to slow down spiritually and experience the richness of our journey of faith. During lent the image of pilgrimage is often evoked. A pilgrimage is an intentional journey to a place imbued with spiritual or emotional meaning. In the past, when walking or riding a horse were the fastest modes of transportation available, the journey to a holy site took far longer. Not surprisingly then, the experiences one had along the way, the people one met, and the sights that one saw were considered as integral to the pilgrimage experience as arriving at one’s destination.

We live in a fast, modern world. Yet from time to time we all need to slow down, reconnect with friends, family and strangers, and nurture our spirituality. In short, we need to appreciate and savor what it means to be human. Lent is the perfect time to do just that.