They’re back! If you ventured out of your home this week onto State Road 46 or drove near the vicinity of the Indiana University Bloomington campus, you realized that students have returned. Of course, a large percentage of them have never been here before, and many are attending other schools than IU. But they all have something in common: they are travelers on a journey, literally and metaphorically moving from one place to another. They are redefining relationships with family and familiar friends, and are forging new connections, some of whom will be a part of their forever community. They are finding new places to sleep, new businesses to patronize, new establishments to frequent, and new communities of faith in which to worship and service. They are, in effect, pilgrims. They share a continuing journey in search of a better and more whole life. They do not do this alone.
In a sense, we are all pilgrims. We have those places we call home, and that True North in our spirits that calls us to our deeper home. But we also realize that we find ourselves, sometimes knowingly and sometimes not, in difficult and unexpected spiritual and emotional places. These are the places we visit, sometimes for very long periods of time. Part of the skill of pilgrimage is the ability to strengthen ourselves when we become weak and discouraged on the journey.
Many scholars believe that Psalm 84 is the song of a pilgrim, one who was on the difficult path to Jerusalem for one of the three large festivals. The singer begins, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord.” The weary pilgrim is sustained in the journey by song, by the community of travelers, and by the vision of the place where God dwells.
For those of us weary from pandemic, from society’s tensions, and from the difficulties of our own spiritual walk, this psalm speaks with power. The sermon Sunday arises from Psalm 84, and is titled “Good News for Weary Pilgrims.” The Scripture will be read by Marlen Rust, and we will have hymns, prayers and a time for children. The Sanctuary Singers, under the direction of Gerry Sousa, and accompanied by Matthew Wachtman, will sing “How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place” from Brahms’ A German Requiem. And we will have a time of consecration and dedication for the Chancel Accessibility Ramp.
If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with those of you here or on the live stream at www.smumc.church at 10:30am this Sunday!