Just a little video that perhaps gives a taste of the ride:
…and here’s some pics.
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Tag: pilgrimage
Categories
Pilgrimage In Photos
Here’s a few pics from what was a fantastic weekend – big thanks to all involved, especially Dave for organising ‘stuff’, Jo for her support along the route, but also ALL the helpers that provided just what was needed when it was needed!
I need a week to let stuff sink in… (specifically the deep-heat and bath salts!)
The cycle pilgrims – off to Epworth
Categories
a pilgrimage
Back in Feb 2012 I mentioned ‘pilgrimage’. Is there something in the human psyche which seeks fulfilment from… pilgrimage?
- The biggest mass migration of people on the planet where two and a half million Muslims visit Mecca for the Hajj.
- Over 600,000 annually visit Graceland to worship at the shrine of Elvis Presley.
- Our small group will ‘pilgrimage‘ to the birthplace of an influential disciplined methodical thinker and doer; John Wesley.
In 2002 John Wesley was listed at number 50 on the BBC’s list of the 100 Greatest Britons.
A pilgrimage need not be ‘a journey’, heaven forbid, this can be an overused escapist phrase. I have recently spent time during Advent and Lent attempting to reposition perspectives by refocusing and reflecting on ‘stuff’.
I understand pilgrimage to be: a specific move to a position outside the norm or to something significant – typically aiming for a place of importance central to or ‘at the heart of’ a person’s world view. A seeking to discover, understand or be healed? It would seem the idea of pilgrimage is a common human experience.
To venture outside of the norm…
I read books to discover? escape? understand?
I watch films to discover? escape? understand?
I listen to music to discover? escape? understand?
I sing and play music to discover? escape? understand?
I cycle to discover? escape? understand?
I surf the web to discover? escape? understand?
I imbibe festival and celebrations to discover? escape? understand?
I wander the countryside to discover? escape? understand?
I feed the birds and talk to my pets to discover? escape? understand?
I live to discover? escape? understand?
Most weekends we have a holiday “Holy Day” where we try to make an effort to do something to discover, escape, understand or experience something out of the ordinary.
Then again this might become the norm, to be constantly escaping to the void.
I wonder if a day cycling with strangers, aiming for the birthplace of an influential disciplined methodical thinker and doer John Wesley, might be a bit different?
If you can space a £1 please do 🙂
If you fancy following our (hopeful)
progress live on the day
just follow my twitter stream!
OK we’re not skipping up Kilimanjaro or back-stroking the Amazon but spending 3 days with a bunch of Methodists is a feat worth support surely!
We aim to be rolling 165 miles over a three daze at the end of May…
It’s a cycling Pilgrimage from Leicester to the Epworth Old Rectory
Syston Methodist Church is working, alongside others, for transformed lives & community in Syston. This Pilgrimage is to raise money to turn part of the buildings into a Community Hub, the first goal for the Community Hub is to be used as a Youth Cafe. SMC have some grants and are looking for more. However, they are still short of quite a few thousand pounds. Every donation will take it closer to their goal of providing a fantastic new resource for our community. 50% of all the money raised on this Pilgrimage will be given to Epworth Old Rectory to support their exciting Welcome Home Development Project. The need in Syston for youth facilities is huge as there is a complete lack of places for young people in the evenings.
Can you spare a £1? or 2?
Remember to gift aid it if u can cos that’s another 25% on top!
Methodism and the Cornish Tin Miner
For those with an interested in Cornwall and Methodism check this post: a-method-in-the-madness
A pamphlet produced in 1960 details how at a certain point in history, the church and its activities had a great effect… (?)
Even if you have no spiritual life/faith, Christian ideas have always given practical advice about how to handle failure, dejection and loss… etc.
It may be no accident that the huge increase in the incidence of common mental health issues seems to coincide with the decline of religion in the West and the loss of a whole tradition experienced in dealing with, if not answering, life’s unanswerable questions. There might be extreme misdirection but there might be also valuable insights offered by Christian teaching if you can fend off the theological language and hoopla in which it’s dressed.
Gotta make it positive! (says the little sprite on my right shoulder). Awwh *!£#@!##%! !*#&*! (says the little !*#&* on t’other)…
It must have been 15 years or so ago that I wrote “We’re going outside, I may be sometime…”
Twenty-five years I grew, nurtured on Cornwall and the Cornish manner, the Cornishness that is now part of me. I still day-dream, of a ‘T’ shirt that announces “I’m Cornish and proud of it…” …is that all I have to cling to? (I haven’t even got this day-dream of mine).
I spent a childhood full of Cornwall’s riches: pebbles a sand, fIzzypop in cans, wind and rain, tunnels, holes, alleys & bunkers, vast sun-scorched gorse torched views, I could see both coasts from our bathroom window.
Spirits of the sea always whisper to me, the loudest whispers I’ve ever heard. I’ve heard in Leicestershire, Crewe and Nice, I saw a little red boat barely afloat.
I cried at the beauty surrounding me as the holidayers screamed and sizzled and I laughed. I sat alone at the end of the phone, I ran with the gang, at low tide, across St Ives Bay, on new years day. We drank and we sang and played in the band. Gran bought saffron buns at Sunday-school treat, and pasties and pasties and pasties. Slept in the snow on the rocks on Carn Brea, laughed at what nan a grandad would say (that’s not the grandad that died in the fishing boat accident). Ate winkles with pins and vinegar picked from Porthleven harbour, got filthy. Held on tight as the storm wind rips so hard it bites. Sat in a haystack in the sun and got covered in mites. I’ve lay for hours and been soaked up by the whole of Mounts Bay, on the clearest ever, hottest ever, hottest ever day. Walked home at midnight from to Camborne from Hayle, met a girl in Redruth and another in St Just, got drunk in Crantock, earnt a wage in St Ives ‘ saw a dream in St Austell, learnt some verbs in Fowey… grew towards man from boy in Cornwall…
…only, they’re all memories.
I return and see the most rugged of faces smile and share the day like children returning to play, waves so worn from years of scorn, skies so blue they seem brand new. A scarred town refuses to frown, yet sings and raises its glasses, everywhere I look I see me and I see pasty smiles, rugby miles, unique Cornwall style saying this is us but we do say we.
I’ve moved away now, don’t know why, but I know I can’t go back. Jane’s not there, Craig’s gone, David’s moved off, So has Jon. Matthew’s in Manchester, Lisa’s in Suffolk, Richard’s in Cardiff, Kay’s in Bath, Lee is in Luton and Mark is in Crewe, and I’m in Leicester for something to do. Cornwall, in essence, has everything, God and the Devil are surely within. but it hasn’t got what I’m looking for. . . . what am I looking for?
I’m going outside and I may be some time…
I caught a podcast recently where Ernie Rea and his guests discussed “Pilgrimage”.
‘Beyond Belief’ BBC Radio 4 : “Every year more than 100 million people around the world go ‘on pilgrimage’, the biggest mass migration of people on the planet. Two and a half million Muslims visited Mecca for last year’s Hajj and over 600,000 visited Graceland to worship at the shrine of Elvis Presley. Is there something in the human psyche which seeks fulfillment from… [pilgrimage]?”
I understand pilgrimage to be: a journey outside the norm or an escape to something significant – typically aiming for a place of importance central to or ‘at the heart of’ a person’s world view. A seeking to discover, understand or be healed? The ‘quest’ is sometimes linked with oracles and finding a source of counsel or understanding. It would seem this is a common human experience that has been specifically studied and written on widely.
To venture outside of the norm…
I read books to discover? escape? understand?
I watch films to discover? escape? understand?
I listen to music to discover? escape? understand?
I sing and play music to discover? escape? understand?
I cycle to discover? escape? understand?
I surf the web to discover? escape? understand?
I imbibe festival and celebrations to discover? escape? understand?
I wander the countryside to discover? escape? understand?
I feed the birds and talk to my pets to discover? escape? understand?
I live to discover? escape? understand?
Most weekends we have a holiday “Holy Day” where we make an effort to do something to discover, escape, understand or experience something out of the ordinary.
Are we ourselves on an ongoing macro-(micro?)-pilgrimage to the outside?
I wonder as I wander… outside for sometime…
Jules P Richards 