View from a Pilgrim

                There are times when it is very hard to express with words all that we want to say.  The bible says of those times that sometimes we groan with the very weight of that burden. For me to express my sense of thankfulness is one of those moments. I have so much to say thank you for. I had a wonderful trip, a pilgrimage an adventure. I had three months when I didn’t have to do anything over much… a time to rest, to read, to reflect… and occasionally cook the dinner for Sarah and Debbie… (truth is they didn’t always appreciate my culinary efforts! But I was trying.) From my trip to Lindisfarne and beyond I have now raised £4,000 and the figure just seems to keep going up daily.  It was a real privilege to be given the time to do the trip, it was great fun and gave me an incredible sense of achievement… and somehow I feel I am being rewarded so generously for something that was good in and of itself, I say it again, thank you.

                There are many things I could write about what I’m learning about pilgrimage but I will confine myself to one: transformation.  A pilgrimage is a journey with a difference, the difference being that we are meant to be changed by the experience. For me it wasn’t about the arriving… although that was quite something.. {read my blog for more info on the arrival http://revgoonersteve.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/arriving.html } the real adventure was the taking part, to set of each day not quite knowing where I was going, not knowing who I would meet, how the roads or the weather would be. It was exciting to realise that each day I had to trust a mixture of God and myself. Whatever anyone may say God didn’t push the pedals.. he did occasionally send the wind, although if I’m honest there were several days when he blew in the wrong direction! (Quite hard!) On the other hand I almost never felt alone on the bike. For company I had the rolling hills and the sky and oftentimes the sea on my East, there were birds and hedgerows, and canals and cottages and somehow amongst them all the brooding powerful presence of God. God allows us to travel with him, to catch a glimpse of what he always sees and perhaps in that, to give us a glimpse of the fullness of his heart.  It is from that glimpse into the fullness of God that transformation occurs. It may have been me doing the pedalling but somehow the appetite, the appreciation, the eyes that wondered the ears that learnt to listen a little better to the strangers I met on the way, all these came from him.

                Many people have said to me, Oh you’ve lost weight, or you look well. Truth is I lost very little weight, even though I cycled well over a 1,000 miles climbing probably 100,000 feet in the process! I didn’t lose any weight, but I will concede that my weight changed. I am now better equipped for the adventure of pilgrimage.

I want to remain a pilgrim. Each day is new and uncertain, none of us knows what encounters and experiences await. We do have to take many of the steps through the day ourselves, but when we do, it is possible to become aware that even in our familiar circumstance we are never alone.  Pilgrimage, a life with a purpose, is so much more fun than just a journey. I am convinced that God is looking to travel with his pilgrims again. We are called to be a Pilgrim church, called out of our comfort zones to things that are new and exciting and which can also appear daunting.  Someone text me and said: “Stephen, we are proud of you, you did it for all of us.”  I still can’t believe I did do it, that I overcame the hills and the sheer mileage and minutiae that separated me at the outset, but I did. In the same way I want to text all of Zion and say: “Zion, I am proud of you, you did it for me.” You see as I was on my journey you were on yours, and God accomplished many things through you and in you whilst I was away.  Not least staying vaguely calm and united as a church without a building meeting in a temporary worship space which doesn’t quite fit!

My final thank you is to those who kept you all moving on pilgrimage while I was away. I have no sense that Zion has rolled backwards or backslidden, quite the reverse. Together I sense you have pressed on, sometimes a little excited and sometimes apprehensive.  You did exactly what I learnt to do on my pilgrimage… keep going! Paul expressed the same lesson in Phil3:12ff:

                Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³ Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

what's not to love

Great day today...... England won the cricket... Arsenal sneak Champo league

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27453474@N02/8753765705/in/photostream/

and my fundraising just hit £4,000 which is awesome. A massive thank you to everyone and here's to the two charities who will spend the money... with Mission Direct building a disabled block attached to a mainstream school in Uganda.. and Rom 1:11 supporting a school/ orphanage / church pastor training center.

From all those who will be helped, a big thank you. From me, just awe really that something which was such great fun, can raise that amount of money... I am blown away that so money people just keep giving money. Generosity is a truly beautiful thing. Thank you to all who have made that £4,000 possible.

Oh yes and its Pentecost today as well.... a great day.

Stephen

The End

Whenever a family member goes away, we have taken to praying the above prayer from the Northumbria Community where I stayed for my post pilgrimage rest and retreat. Its about adventure; 'the wonders he has shown you.' Its also about connection, 'may he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.'
Wonders
The last couple of days cycling were simply awesome: Riding up the Northumbria coast as I waited for the tide and the causeway to re-open, peaceful and wonderful, castles and beauty.

Then of course I had 'my helper' arrive. One of my main coaches, who helped me to get to a point where cycling 40 miles a day was even possible. Chris arrived at the Causeway having cycled from Edinburgh that morning (we couldn't quite fathom the glowing hands, but he had cycled 90 miles!) His job was to lead me home rejoicing the following day. This he did even though the hills and the wind were formidable opponents! If you look hard into the distance you may catch Arthur's seat and Edinburgh as we crossed the fabulous Lammermuir Hills. (This was the place where a young shepherd boy St Cuthbert felt the call to ministry on the very night that St Aiden died on Lindisfarne. Even if I was following Chris, I felt I was in the company of Saints!)

It was simply a wonderful way to end my adventure. My sense of achievement to cycle over the Peak District, the Pennines to Leeds, to York, Whitby through Sunderland, Newcastle... to Holy Island and then after a rest on to Edinburgh... fantastic. I can't really believe that was me 649 miles and many 1,000's of feet up and down a real adventure! My bubble did burst slightly when after all those days of travel, sometimes over 8 hours in the saddle, 11 days of riding, the plane took just 55 minutes to arrive in Bristol! Bring me home rejoicing though, it did!

Connection and doors
 I don't think I ever lost connection. Of course nowadays there are mobile phones and email... but when you are riding you are always connected, the wind the road, the hills...the same wind, the same land that we all walk upon. I also felt the whole idea of a Pilgrimage opened doors that are often shut. Chatting to people, literally having people come over and tell their story to me, I felt I was on Holy Ground long before I reached Holy Island.  (If you are interested in this, I have just finished a wonderful book called: The Unexpected Pilgrimage of Harold Fry..a wonderful novel, not religious just delightful and powerful.) Of course the one who gained the most from this adventure was me, to be there was a privilege, even when it hailed briefly as we arrived in Edinburgh... I decided this was my ticker tape welcome for my longest ever ride in a day...eventually 82 miles. I am also delighted and proud to say that through your connection others will benefit, both of the charities I will visit in the summer will receive in excess of £1250, indeed I am secretly hoping that if a few more gifts come in like the £50 last night I may even make the £3,000 mark, just £300 more needed for that.

Good to be home
I have learnt a lot in preparing and now executing this pilgrimage. Walking with the Celtic saints, waiting for the tide to allow me to travel has reminded me of the beautiful rhythm that we have in life. Time to rest, time to work, time to sleep and time to waken. If everyday were 80 miles in a saddle over imposing hills then that would be no adventure. If everyday were resting other tensions would arise.(I noted as I passed particularly Middlesborough, just how many men I was suddenly seeing, walking dogs, or children or just walking.)  As I rejoice at being home, finishing of a wonderful sabbatical I am glad that there is a rhythm in life, an ebb and a flow. A time to give and a time to receive. I have received so much... now the end has come, which in my book will become a new beginning.
Thank you again for all your amazing support.

Fermentation

No pictures in the blog today, indeed not too much to say. I travelled yesterday to the home of the Northumbria Community... a mere 40 miles by bike...against the wind more or less I may add, as if to somehow justify that which should not need justifying. Today I rested and read, as the God book says there is a time for resting. So today was that day, a time to ferment the experience and the new thinking that is emerging within me: all of life as a journey a pilgrimage. An adventure if you will where outcomes are often uncertain and unexpected, roads are hidden.
Fermentation is a vital part of creating a good wine and a good beer, it needs the ingredients stirred in and then to be laid down for a time... now is that time for me, thoughts are bubbling through me, but they must await for another day
Stephen

Arriving

Truth is when I arrived on Saturday, I was exhausted and elated, but arrival really only occurred yesterday... my day of rest.

It's hard to say exactly what happened...I went to prayers and then to Church...after all I am on pilgrimage, and this is Holy Island! The service was nice but quite ordinary really, I went forward for communion, the organ started to play, "He is Lord" and that was it, I was gone...overwhelmed with emotion. Tears just streamed out of me. I felt really embarrassed but ,managed to keep my head down so that not too many noticed. What was it? An overwhelming sense of relief, accomplishment? Perhaps, but also for me a real sense that I was totally not alone.It came on me as a wave when I was not expecting it. The word I will put here are that I felt overwhelmed with the love of God...of course if you do it believe that is possible, you will need to find other explanations, I cannot and for me that answer fits the bill. 

So to the rest of the day... wonderful pub fish n chips, with the Marathon in the background....hmmm, 3 or 4 hours running and all that celebration. Still I picked up some amazing stories... the man running with Motor Neurone Disease the illness which took my Mother! While I was nearing Lindisfarne, and struggling, I did once think, cor it would be nice to have someone to cheer me home. (Now I realise I am in fantasy land now!) As I rode over the last hill, a flock of sheep sensed me approach and set the baa baaas off...to me, very exhausted as I was it was the applause I needed to get over the line. 

And so I did arrive, in many ways yesterday...and the applause went on. Was it mine to God or his to me? I sat looking at the sea...(picture below) and their were ducks... and then seals, bobbing around, I swear playing hide and seek with me! Hallelujah.

Then there was the early evening walk across the receding tide to Cuthberts Island (below) As I descended a beautiful barn owl, swooped around me...for me more hallelujah's. This truly is a holy wonderful place. I simply hope and pray that as a results of my visit, I too may become more in tune, more holy more free, more of what and who I like the owl, was meant to be.

To Lindisfarne and beyond!

Well I made it...all the way to Lindisfarne by bike! Today was a fantastic days cycling, again 

Lovely weather, beautiful scenery...not too hilly, lovely coastline... only 1 puncture....but it was really hard. it was mentally hard, to be so close and yet so far. it turned out to be the longest ride I've ever done 68 miles... (I'll add up my totals later!) 

The real problem was that I got really excited yesterday....I was nearly here, I got really really excited today...when I saw the Island....BUT...so close and yet so far...I had to cycle past the Island practically before I could come across...my brain struggled, my legs struggled...my heart ached for the end of the journey. 

Today was all about arriving..not about the journey...I got to the A1..! Just a few miles north and I'd be there...But I have not built this pilgrimage on speed, or A roads, I've pottered along, sensing, enjoying wondering. Yet my mind really fancied the quick dash up the A1..! And once my legs realised that the picturesque route involved hill after little hill...my 

Legs were with my mind....take the A road...get it over with...we are tired out.  I won't even tell you what my bottom was telling me!

My heart however resisted....on a journey, a pilgrimage, you do not just throw in your principles right at the end, or when things get tough...It was right not to rush this, to practically cycle past Lindisfarne...to go beyond and then to turn back to arrive at a place of peace...peacefully. 

The cycle across the causaway was so peaceful...and now my heart rests.

More pictures and reflections will follow...but for now my legs and my stomach are winning....time to eat. Thank you for all your prayer and support.

Stephen

Total Mileage: 478

Teeside, Wearside, Tyneside..2 Punctures and a Ferry

I am in a very elated state this evening... I am now in Northumbria...I have to pinch myself to realise it.

(Pictures to prove it will be posted later, as internet still a problem!)
yesterday to give a few more details nearly did for me... Whitby fish n chips riding with two old mates, beautiful scenery across the moors...wonderful. Visiting the Abbey, the sight of one of the first places to spring out of Lindisfarne.... an alternative community, that offered hope all those years ago.... it was wonderful ..the piccies prove it.

However when you are out on a bike, you always need to be sure you can get home. Well yesterday I was not the navigator...an old friend Jamie had this role......He picked a fabulous route, and we would have been home and dry, all tucked up for bedtime.... if it had not been for the wind...a strong wind, sapping strength and energy. It came from the west, and my B&B.. aptly named travellers rest...was in the West. I did arrive, I can't help but hope God was 'refining' me or something. I was reminded of a phrase from St Brendan, a proper epic traveller. 'STORMY seas make for weathered seaman.... those who have proved God in the deep." I must admit to feeling a bit like a weathered cyclist!
Still another day another challenge.... I was apprehensive...Middlesborough, Sunderland Newcastle...not necessarily my image of a glorious day out. But ..

today has been glorious... fabulous route, if I say so myself, beauty is always just around the corner, even through the roughest cities. I did see especially around Middlesborough  loads of men out walking, be it on their own, or with their children or with their dogs. I can't help reflecting, they didn't look lazy, just I suspect for many of them rather dissilusioned looking for work.
And so to the coast.... after thinking that I really had done very well to get all this way..now in excess of 400 miles I think, without a puncture, I proceeded to get two in 1/2 an hour.... like London buses! Anyway I managed and set of to follow the coast road through Sunderland and Tyneside...it was absolutely stunning....a real privelidge to be out here. Crossing the Tyne by ferry ...and then the Northumberland sign

....I have cycled from Bristol to Northumberland. in truth I can barely believe I've done it. I am not just North of Birmingham, or Sheffield or Leeds or York....I'm North of Newcastle.... in my book that doesn't exist....and yet all the way I've had wonderful conversations and discussions..a real adventure....and tomorrow..Lindisfarne...so long as I don't misjudge the tides!