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The Road to Emmaus: Pilgrimage as a Way of Life

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This book is one that I plan to add to the short list that I read regularly. I have been looking for material that will help break up the hard soil of my heart so that I can hear the unexpected messages God has for me on the road of life. I mean, whether one is an intentional pilgrim, a traveler, one who makes his or her rounds, or even a person limited by illness, Jim Forest addresses you with stories, words of Saints, and sage advice. He's been these all these persons, and he illustrates how God is there in these situations, speaking. If you're longing for those ears to hear the saving messages you fear you're missing, this book will help.

I've been reading Jim Forest's books for years, and although I've never had the pleasure of actually meeting him, I think of him as a valued and much loved teacher. His latest book, this one on pilgrimage, is a beautiful reflection on what it means to be a homo viator, a pilgrim, a traveler on the way to God.

We typically think of pilgrimage as actual physical movement toward a holy place, and this is perfectly legitimate. But Forest reminds us that pilgrimage is fundamentally an alert attentiveness to God: a quiet listening, a prayerful waiting, a contemplative centering, a grateful bowing. Too much attention on physical holy places can distract us from the spiritual essence of pilgrimage. It risks turning would-be pilgrims into tourists. If God is a circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere, then we are always at the Holy Place we seek. The trick is realizing it.

In discussing pilgrimage, Forest's reflections on "thin places," where the presence of God seems especially palpable, and "dark places," where the absence of God feels so devastating that they can inspire a trek along the dark path of unknowing and unnaming. I was especially moved by his chapter on "The Pilgrimage of Illness." In it, Forest reveals that he's suffering from kidney failure which requires regular dialysis. But in the midst of his illness, he's also discovered a whole new opportunity for traveling to God.

A wonderful book worth reading slowly and meditatively. Thanks, Jim!

I cannot think of a book by Jim Forest that I did not enjoy, leran from and then recommend to others, even making gifts of several of them to freinds and family. I think here, to name just a few of his wonderful biography of Thomas Merton, Living with Wisdom, his books on praying with icons and on the Beatitudes, his book on confession and his new one Silent as a Stone, on St. Mother Maria Skobtsova's resuce of children during the roundup and imprisoning of French Jews during the Occupation in 1942. In many ways, The Road to Emmaus: pilgrimage as a way of life, brings together holy women and men Jim Forest has revered, learned from and written about. But in this lovely and lucid text, he also brings some of the most important of his subjects such as prayer, liturgy, sacred images, holy places. He assembles all these in the framework of that venerable project of seeting out and making the pilgrimage journey. This could be an excellent book to take along on a retreat, to use for spiritual reading during a season such as Advent or Lent, to gather a study group. The images within support Jim Forest's always accessible prose. He has also included his own pilgrimage through sickness towards healing. You will be in for adventure in reading this, just as much as any of Chaucer's pilgrims on the road to canterbury, or for that matter, thousands of others journeying to Compostella, Rome, Jerusalem or other holy places.

Jim Forest's latest book is a guide and companion for all of us, stripping away the cynicsm that modern readers may feel when asked to consider their lives as journeys.

The book deals with the physical act of pilgimage, with places of pilgrimage and with pilgrimage as a metaphor for life, but ultimately all forms of pilgrimage are resolved in the unexpected encounter between the downcast disciples and the Risen Christ on the Road to Emmaus. It is this journey that Forest challenges us to use as the pattern of our lives.

Whilst the approach is explicitly Christian and more particularly Orthodox Christian, it is always informed and enriched by Forest's encounters with representatives of other traditions and philosophies, and of course his friendships with Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton and Thich Nhat Hanh. Indeed, it is this warmth and openness to others that makes the book so attractive: whether we agree with one another or not, we all live together. And how many books encompass Tolkien and Dostoevsky, Chartres and the Anne Frank House, the Desert Fathers and the pilgrimage of illness?

A humane, wise book for a fearful time

One of the books I read this summer was "The Road to Emmaus: Pilgrimage as a Way of Life" by Jim Forest. This was a game-changing book for me. Jim encourages us to see all of life as a journey to the Kingdom and to see every day as an opportunity to serve others and to grow into Christlikeness. In the book, he discusses our actions along the way (prayer, fasting, almsgiving), spiritual "places" like cathedrals and geographical locales, and different sorts of journeys when one doesn't travel (like his own pilgrimage of illness -- I highly recommend this chapter for all those who deal with chronic illness). The book contains many photos that go along with the text. I found this an easy and enchanting read; it was hard to put down!

Jim Forest's book: "The Road to Emmaus" presents a highly readable, lively account of this one, somewhat curious, aspect of spiritual living. In the book, the theme of pilgrimage is highlighted against a number of the places that the author has visited, together with those whom he has met along the way. Jim's characteristic ability to see the `eternal' present in situations which most would discard as simply ephemeral, gives the book a challenging, yet attractive, quality. The author takes us to `thin' places, where the presence of God is almost tangible, but also to `dark' places, where the presence of God seems to be wholly absent. I was particularly interested in the idea, throughout the book, that it is the journey, rather than the destination, which constitutes the pilgrimage itself, making pilgrimage an aspect of living in the moment, rather than (as is more normal) an idea of projecting ourselves into some future achievement. The book is freely laced with Jim's own attractive anecdotal style, and provides a fascinating personal insight into our journey towards the Kingdom of God.

In the Christian tradition, it is reported that after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the apostles were stunned and in shock; how could someone they love be crucified and left to hang on the cross? What madness put this in motion, and why didn't he, (Jesus) save himself? Jesus, the second person of the Blessed Trinity took on the form of a human, lived among the people of His time, and allowed Himself to be scourged and then crucified on a cross.

The people watched as the soldiers tore into His side with a spear, and they heard Him cry out to His Father. When finally he took His last breath, they were there, too, watching and crying as Jesus gave way to the moment. Jesus' journey on earth ended on the cross, he was buried in a tomb that was intended for another, and on the third day, Jesus rose from the dead, and walked among the people, though they didn't know it was Him. The apostles and disciples were grief-stricken to have seen Him die; they didn't understand when He told them He would rise from the dead. They didn't know what that meant.

And, like you and I, we each have a journey, a pilgrimage in life; our pilgrimage is to follow the example of Jesus in reaching out to others and at times, helping others to carry their crosses, their pain, their hurts.

Several days after Jesus died and was buried, He rose from the dead and walked among His friends. There were two of His disciples walking to the town of Emmaus; they befriended this stranger (Jesus), and spoke about what had happened. They grieved publicly, and He continued to engage in conversation with them, and they didn't realize He was Jesus..... until, that is, they sat down to eat and share the little they had. And it was only when He went on His way that they realized that they met Jesus in the "breaking of the bread".

And so, like Jesus and these disciples He met on the road to Emmaus, you and I will be travelling our own journeys, our own pilgrimages, and more than likely, we, too, will meet a stranger or two, who will share in conversation with us, and in our "breaking of the bread", in our sharing of our stories, we will meet Jesus.

Jim Forest has put together this wonderful book that brings to life the concept of being on life's journey, being on our own pilgrimage wherein we, too, meet another or others, and we, too, open up ourselves and share our lives, our stories, our pain, and our joy. And, we will meet Jesus "in the breaking of the bread".

There is a quote in an early chapter that gives room for hope; I gladly share it, here: "It's a special feeling walking an old road. The pilgrim may see no one else behind or ahead and yet be profoundly aware of not being alone." May this be your experience!

I went to hear Jim Forest speak on the friendship (mostly through letters) between Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day at a local church and picked up this title mainly because if its title. "The Road to Emmaus", it turns out, is a road inward (as every pilgrimage ultimately is), and Mr. Forest as a tour leader took me down paths, some familiar (fear) and some unfamiliar (icons)that became illumined both by his spirituality and by his humanity. In every chapter, the reader will find Christ breaking bread in places both exotic and familiar. Simple, personal, rich with spiritual insights, the journey Mr. Forest takes us on is never commonplace.