A PILGRIM FOR CHRIST: REFLECTIONS
I wanted to create a page of the inspirational insights of Pilgrim George Walter. These beautiful reflections are taken, with permission, from his personal journal notes that date from 2001 through to the present.
While they are certainly fallible thoughts of a fallible human being, they are also the deep thoughts of a pilgrim whose entire life's direction is in unity with his God. Pilgrim George, as he walks and prays, 'hears' what we other Christians sometimes miss. It's because he 'listens' much more intently to the voice of God in those long moments of solitude and silence.
His vocation enables the power of the Holy Spirit to move and guide him in miraculous ways; and attracts others to him, for the purpose of God's intention to show his children His Cross where it needs to be seen and to whom it needs to be presented.
In pilgrim's solitude--with every footstep he takes--with Christ, he hears God's promptings and feels His love. It's certainly true that often, it's in a whisper (not a raging storm), that we most clearly hear the most powerful messages from God, talking to us. I believe that these shared insights will benefit other Christians and be a source of inspiration and help.
--Rachel Baer
[these particular journal entries are listed by topic, as received. I have begun with the entries given on the topic of a pilgrim--what it means to be a pilgrim, which I thought an appropriate beginning. I'll continue with others, as time allows. Please check back often for more to be added regularly].
PILGRIM
"Some people think the pilgrim is a saint; others think he is Satan. He is neither. He is but a child of God (1 Jn. 3:1) who is working out his salvation in fear and trembling (Ph. 2:12)." - 2/13/01
"A pilgrim walks to show people the way to heaven. He lifts up Jesus on the Cross in symbol and by his life. Some people wave and honk when they pass by just because they are glad to see someone going against the tide of always going faster and taking the easier way. It's more than the old story of the tortoise and the hare. They themselves have succombed to the temptation (it's hard not to, given smooth roads and powerful cars) but they believe deep down they are on the wrong path. Already this shows an openness to the Cross of Christ. Jesus, who was rich, became poor to save us (11 Cor. 8:9). He chose weakness, humiliation, the Cross. as the better sign of love than power and glory." - 6/5/01
"The pilgrim in a sense 'escapes from time' already in his life. Most people live 'in time'; he lives 'with time'. Most people in technological societies 'live by the clock'. They have schedules (it's time to do this). They are controlled, dominated, enslaved by man's artificial measuring of time. The pilgrim, on the other hand, moves by a supernatural clock, something like the farmer who plows, plants, and reaps by a natural rhythm. The pilgrim surrenders his life to the movement of the Holy Spirit; he lives more by chairos then by chronos." - 11/12/02
"A pilgrim/poustinik is one who takes the time to listen in depth to what is going on around him. He is one who is not quick to mouth the platitudes people in a hurry pass around among themselves in order to have something to say in company. He is careful about what he gives his assent to." -- 1/3/03
"A pilgrim walking the highways today may be mockingly called 'Gandolf', 'Moses', or 'wizard'; but as a son of God, obeying the will of the heavenly Father and carrying his cross, he is a faithful reflection of the Only Begotten Son of God and he makes present in the world today, Jesus' once and for all carrying of the Cross on the streets of Jerusalem out of obedience to the same heavenly Father for the salvation of the world." -- 6/5/03
"What is God saying in the world through the pilgrim's walking? Simply 'repent' - turn away from trusting in all the perishable things of this life and put your hope in the living God. This world that is consuming all of your time and effort is fast perishing; don't go up in the flames with it. Detach yourself from it. And above all, don't waste your time looking for signs of the Lord's Second Coming (or reading books or looking at video's about it). Prepare for it now by changing your heart: become meek and humble like Jesus, seeking only the will of the Father, trusting completely in him. Pilgrims live in the world as if they have already left it (1 Cor. 7:29 - 31)." -- 8/3/03
"Only the lowly, (childlike, humble, Mt. 11:25) notice a pilgrim with compassion: most people are too full of themselves (pride) to take pity on the suffering Christ: there are few Veronica's who brave the scorn of the majority and wipe the face of Jesus (or give Him a drink of water or encourage Him with a smile or greeting)." -- 8/23/03
"A pilgrim walking the highways of the world as a stranger in a foreign land (like the vowed religious in full habit) is saying, 'I am not ashamed to acknowledge before all, the Lord whom I serve. (Lk. 9:26)" -- 12/2/03
"People call the police and say that they are concerned about the welfare and safety of the pilgrim walking along the highway, but actually it may be more that they are offended by the Cross he carries and the message his life bears: namely, that there is more to life than speeding around in a car at ease; that the deeper meaning of life is love and sacrifice. Some people would even tell God Himself to 'move over' if He got in their way and slowed them down from doing their own thing." -- 7/29/04
"Many say (or think) 'Oh, as a pilgrim you must meet a lot of interesting people and see many wonderful places.' In fact, a pilgrim does have many encounters with people and places, but that's not why he journies, or pilgrimages. He goes, rather, in obedience to the Lord's command; his purpose is to offer his life as a sacrifice to the Father in union with Jesus, his Savior." -- 9/5/04
"The Christian pilgrim does not get involved in politics, religion, or business nor is he interested in sports, entertainment, or relationships. Although he might be aware in general of what is going on in the world around him, and he may be called by the Lord at times to directly engage or interace with this world, he tries to keep his eyes on the final goal (heaven) and he does not let the passing things of this earth distract him from the journey home (1 Pt. 2:11; II Cor. 6:14-15; I Cor. 7:29-31)." -- 10/26/04
"A tourist comes to look; a pilgrim comes to listen. A tourist comes to see the sights; a pilgrim wants to hear the Lord speak and touch the holy. A tourist comes with inquisitiveness; a pilgrim comes in reverence. A tourist enjoys surface appearances; the pilgrim will not rest till he has entered the depth of the truth. A tourist comes to experience the physical: a pilgrim comes to be touched by grace. So although a pilgrim does not come primarily to look, his eyes are truly opened--his spiritual eyes--so that when he looks at the world around him, he sees its essence (its origin and its destiny; its coming from the hand of a loving Creator and its journey back to His welcoming embrace)." -- 6/21/05
"To the eyes of the flesh, the pilgrim seems to be carrying a heavy load (35 lbs. of baggage), taking the hard way (walking, not riding), wearing a heavy coat (even in hot weather). But to the eyes of the Holy Spirit, he is flying. Like Jesus on the way to Calvary, the pilgrim's life is being crushed out of his body; but his soul is soaring in union with his loving heavenly Father. Some see this truth even at a distance because they get a witness in their spirit, having experienced the same Trinitarian love in their own hearts. Others don't even get it after they come up close, hear him speak or look into his eyes for they are all darkness within (Mt. 6:23). -- 6/30/05
"There are three basic kinds of people who react immediately upon seeing the pilgrim; the bored, the brazen and the broken. The first two qualities are found mostly in teens; they shout out in anger, mocking laughter and obscene words and gestures. The last quality (borkenness) is found in those who have become like little children in the Scriptural sense (Mt. 18:3-4) and they rejoice to behold a brother. There is a fourth class who reacts in anger and fear, but the pilgrim never sees them. They are the ones who call the police and say 'There's a suspicious (weird) looking character walking along the road; you better clearn that trash from our sight' -- 8/12/05
LOVE
It has always been difficult for a follower of Jesus to fulfill Jesus' definition of love: "To lay down ones life for ones friend" (John 15:13). But Christian families in contemporary, secular, western society, have some added obstacles to overcome. The husband has a difficulty in that his wife does not need him to physically lay down his life for her as she can easily get a divorce, and make it on her own. Secondly, the wife has a difficulty in that she is encouraged to work outside the home and spread her energies and focus around. And parents together have a difficulty laying down their lives for their children because their children are not given "rights" to sue the parents if they take too seriously their obligation to form and mold the behavior of their children. - 8/5/01
The real test of a Christian's love (and even of a Jew's) love, is not how he treats his family and friends, but how he treats strangers - those culturally, economically, socially, racially different from him - who come into his life. God made this clear already in the Old Testament (Ex. 23:9): Israel (and all mankind) was a stranger (spiritually alienated) from God (Rm. 5:8) when He chose to come among us (Exodus/Incarnation). God's true children are identified by how much they act like Him in their willingness to open themselves to the potentially dangerous. -- 7/2/02
A Christian's day or life should not be divided into periods of prayer (serving/loving God) and periods of activity (serving/loving ones neighbor). Rather, one should aim at loving God with ones whole heart, mind, and strength, at all times and in all places. Loving ones neighbor as oneself should only be done "out of love for God" - as a way of offering oneself totally to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. A Christian's prayer life is primary because in God's eyes the merit and value of ones service to His neighbor depends completely upon the purity of ones heart (how much ones love is like God's love: Mt. 5:48). And ones heart is purified by growth in comtemplative prayer and awareness of the Holy Trinity dwelling in ones heart. - 1/24/03
The words "God so loved the world..." (John 3:16) can be misunderstood. God did not love the world in the Scriptural sense of the kingdom of darkness that is diametrically opposed to Him. He loved the individuals that He had created but who had lost their fellowship with him by sin. - 7/14/03
Truth can be twisted, ignored or silenced; love cannot, because love is willing to endure all of these things, plus rejection. When truth is rejected, it is frustrated and withers; when love is rejected it rejoices and grows stronger. - 12/7/03
The Incarnation of Jesus Christ brought a new force to the earth: divine charity. Man never knew this kind of love before. The Greeks knew of an heroic love willing to sacrifice self for another or a country. God's chosen people knew the love of a Creator God (Maker of heaven and earth); a Redeemer God (Deliverer from Egypt); and even a Husband God (who would accept them back after they were unfaithful). But neither they nor anyone else on earth had ever experienced a Suffering God who loved them so much He was willing to take the punishment for their sins upon Himself and die for them. This kind of love blew apart every previous category man in his highest religious or philosophical flights had ever conceived. Try as they might, those who decided to follow Jesus' footsteps would never find adequate words or categories to describe the uncontainable love now made available through immersion into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. - 1/30/06
It is said "You cannot love what you do not know." When applied to loving God this is only partly true. One could have a lot of head knowledge about God (through catechesis, Creed, culture, history, etc.) without growing one ounce in love for Him. In relationships it's "heart knowledge" that counts. - 2/18/07
God so loved the world (Jn. 3:15) that He sent His only begotten Son to drink the cup (Mt. 10:38) of divine wrath (Rv. 15:7) against sin, and set mankind free from eternal separation from Trinitarian life. When Jesus cried out on the cross "It is finished" (Jn. L9:30) He was testifying to the fact that He had drunk the cup of alienation from His Father (Mk. L5:34) - the result of mankind's rebellion and sin - to the last bitter drop. He had humbled Himself lower than every human being (Lk. 12:37) whoever would exist. He became the servant of mankind (Mk. L0:45): washed our feet (Jn. L3:-4) from the spiritual dirt of sin: all out of love. - 3/12/07
The difference between human love and divine love is profound. Human loves serves the neighbor for the sake of the neighbor: divine love reaches out to the other for the sake of God. Both are good and beautiful but the effects differ profoundly. The results of human love will end with death; the effects of divine love will live on for all eternity. - 10/31/07
JESUS CHRIST/MESSIAH/GOD
God
Does too much talk about God tend to reduce Him to our more manageable size? Isn't it more important, authentic, respectful and spiritually healthy, to just "stand in His presence", "wait upon Him in fear", "surrender to His majesty and immensity"? - 10/21/01
God
In the Old Covenant God first revealed the extent of His faithfulness, justice and power. Then, in the New Testament He showed the depth of His love, mercy and weakness. Thus we have a glimpse of both His transcendance and His immanence. - 3/7/02
Christ
God actually "gave up" on the world He created; the race descended from Adam and Eve. He had tried with Abraham, Moses and David, to get it back on track, but each time His chosen servants failed Him. He had to start all over; He made a new Adam (I Cor. 15:45), to become the head of a new race - the race of the redeemed; those who died to their fallen, Adamic human nature, and rose with a new divinized life in Christ. - 7/14/03
To let the crucified Christ love you completely is devastating to ones life; it means you will be conformed to Him completely--even in His suffering; you too will be crucified out of love. - 8/21/03
Jesus
Jesus' temptation in the desert was part and parcel of His baptism in the Jordan River. Both together made up His baptism in water and fire (Luke 12:50). Jesus, in a sense, did not know if He would ever return from the desert. As it turned out it was but His first skirmish with the powers of hell, and it was a foretaste of His whole public ministry. Jesus knew He had come to earth to be tested by the three traditional enemies of the human race; the world, the flesh, and the devil. This confrontation in the desert set the tone for His whole public ministry: it was going to be spiritual warfare. The flip side of the temptation in the desert was His crucifixion on Calvary. In the temptation He showed His power: in the crucifixion He showed His love. Both were done in obedience to His heavenly Father's plan for the salvation of the world and out of obedience to the nature of love. - 7/8/03
To interpret Jesus' miracles of healing and deliverance as primarily due to His compassion for the physically sick and suffering, is to fall into the humanistic, modernistic, secularistic trap which says the reason Jesus came to earth was to make life easier. This is a travesty of the truth, for it reduces the supernatural to be the slave of the natural, instead of the other way round. Jesus worked miracles primarily to show that He was the promised Messiah (Mt. 8:16-17) and to reward and encourage the faith and confidence of the people who came to Him (Mt. 8:13). Jesus came to earth to save man's soul from sin: to open the gates of heaven: to make possible once again a deep and intimate relationship between God and His children. Jesus did have compassion on the crowds (Mt. 9:36) but it was not because they were poor and oppressed; it was because they were spiritually lost - like sheep without a shepherd. - 12/22/04
The Lord did not tell us to study the Bible or theology or science or anything else: He told us to study Himself: "Learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart" (Mt. 11:29). And the best place to study Him is as He is hanging on the Cross, for there He exemplifies in the clearest form, all of His spoken words, all the virtues He proposed (the Beatitudes) and the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). - 1/28/05
Messiah
One of the main reasons the Jews did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, was because they were expecting only one coming - the day of the Lord. Jesus, however, divided His mission into two Comings: the first as a suffering Servant and the Second as a triumphant King at the end of time. Jesus' Second Coming fits more man's way of looking at how to right the world's wrongs by a show of power. Jesus' first coming is much more demanding because it requires personal sacrifice, but it better reveals the nature of the Triune God and His love. - 12/17/05
The whole Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi, is but one long sigh for the Messiah (Ps. 130: 5-8). Mary, the Virgin of Nazareth, is the culminating expression of that longing and her Magnificat hymn of joy (Lk. 1:46-55) is spoken for all of Israel. The fruit of her womb, Jesus, the Eternal Word of God, is God's answer to His people's need and pleading for a Savior. - 12/21/05
Jesus
When considering Jesus' miracles, it is very easy to slip over into viewing Him as just some great magician with awesome powers beyond what most men have. The truth is Jesus' miracles took a great toll on Him personally; they cost Him a cruel death on Calvary. In effect, when someone sick came to Jesus and asked to be healed, they were asking Him to take their affliction on Himself and so set them free. And Jesus, out of His great love, agreed to take the pain and suffering (the temporal punishment for sin) upon Himself. It was not magical power that cured them: it was supernatural love. - 7/1/06
Continued on Pilgrim: Reflections, pg 2
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