The Sacred Journey

This book begins slow, like a jeweler carefully cutting a diamond into a brilliant beautiful gem. The book gains momentum almost unnoticeably, drawing you in. The author is quick to point out that 'God makes no secret of his clear bias for the wanderer'[p.2]. The story of Christianty, beginning with Abraham, is filled with wanderings both positive and negative. Scripture reinforces this concept of pilgrimage telling us we're just pilgrims passing though this world. The author reminds us there is a spiritual danger in settling, and well meaning Christians can try to force us to settle as the misguided Reformers did. But we are born journey, we're the only creatures God created to specifically go about upright; also the Reformers failed to realize that a complete Christian pilgrimage often involves 'laughing, mourning, caring, walking along roads and making love as sacramental activities'[p.20]and are not fleshly roadblocks.

Sacred journeys are also meant to have lasting spiritual benefits that don't end with reaching a certain destination, matter of fact a major difference between a Christian pilgrimage and other religions is that Christians are more concerned about the journey than the destination. The author reminds us that our attitude in beginning the journey is of utmost importance, and many take spiritual journeys today for much the same reasons as the ancient. Having just completed a sabbatical journey I found much in the book that was affirming, and through my experiences on the 'road' some of the challenges of the book I too had experienced. This book is great read and I find the author quite right when he says the journey begun never ends just because we're back home.

The Publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book through BookSneeze.
THE SACRED JOURNEY by Charles Foster. Nashville, Tennessee. Thomas Nelson Publishers Inc. 2010