The Sacred Journey by Charles Foster

“This will go too far for most people. I’m not sure that it doesn’t go too far for me."

A fair warning given too little, too late in The Sacred Journey by Charles Foster. Foster pull no punches about what a pilgrimage is, and perhaps more importantly – what it isn’t.

Jesus said, “Follow me.” And Foster clearly believes that we are to take this commandment literally. Pack your bags, or leave them by your feet, and hit the open (sometimes dangerous) road.

Citing the many wanderers of the Bible, including it’s most famous – Jesus – Charles contends that we are meant to wander, meant to travel, by foot…to follow Jesus.

For many of us, however, the question isn’t whether or not to follow Jesus, but to follow Jesus where?

The “where” as Charles reveals to us, isn’t important. As many make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem you can make one down your block.  The miracles or spiritual awakening you hear about in Jerusalem can too be found right outside your door and down your street.

Though I have traveled quite a bit, I can’t say that I’ve ever been on a pilgrimage. As I read The Sacred Journey I couldn’t help but want to rush home, shove some things into a pack and hit the road. Where?

That’s the beauty: it doesn’t matter. If anything the “where” is only the excuse needed to get on the road. It’s on the road that is our true destination. It’s on the road where what we seek, we shall find. And if you think you can’t take a pilgrimage, you’re wrong. Everyday you can take one, even if it’s right around your block.

But be warned, Charles reminds us, we will be changed. Some of our friends and family will like the change, others will despise it. Either way, once you go on a pilgrimage you can’t go back on it, only back from it.

Foster doesn’t explicitly tell us what we will find, only what others have found, because each pilgrimage is for its own pilgrim. No matter what we find, it will make a lasting impression, far greater than any vacation or getaway.


Reviewers Note:
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255