Our virtual pilgrimage leaves from Inver Grove Heights on Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025. We are headed east towards Wisconsin, moving through the United States and part of Canada to reach the Atlantic Ocean.
As we gather ourselves for the journey and tie on our walking shoes we think of the words of Psalm 121 that we will hear in church this Sunday: “God won’t let your foot slip.”
Psalm 121 is a psalm of ascent, a song that may have been sung by the people of Israel as they traveled to Jerusalem to pray at the temple. It begins with the beautiful lines “I lift my eyes to the mountains, from where will my help come? My help comes from the LORD who made heaven and earth.”
The route of our virtual pilgrimage begins not with an ascent but with a descent as we head down 70th St into the Mississippi River Valley and turn north toward the Wakota Bridge. If we raise our eyes we won’t see mountains, but might see small planes taking off or landing at Fleming Field.
We think about travel, and pray for all on journeys. Safety for those who are physically traveling, fortitude for those whose life journey has turned down a difficult path, guidance for those who have lost their way.
O Lord God, from whom we come, in whom we are enfolded, to whom we shall return: bring us in our pilgrimage through life; with the power of the Father protecting, with the love of Jesus indwelling, and the light of the Spirit guiding, until we come to our ending, in life and love eternal. Amen
(Peter Nott, Bishop of Norwich)