Less than two weeks to go..
July 1st is now less than a fortnight away, so I'm starting to feel excited about this thing l'll be doing. This what is it? This pilgrimage. This retreat. This walkabout. This time on the road and on the street.
Most people I've spoken to about the plan have understood what it's about. In fact a few have said they would like to join me! My Franciscan friend Brother Vaughan has offered to walk the first day with me, out of London. I think I am going to take him up on that. He is also the one who is lending me one of his backpacks. He has 3! He does a lot of walking, including the Camino to Santiago de Compostella.
I'm experimenting with writing this on the blackberry, to find out if it will work while I am out on the road, but it doesn't work so well. I may have to find the use of computer at a internet cafe or day centre as I go.
I will post again a bit later as its a bit of a palaver on the blackberry..
the pub was not open..
I am starting this blog mainly with the aim of documenting some of my thoughts and reflections, with a focus on homelessness and the state of society today.
These days I still sing and play guitar and sometimes get inspired to write songs. I lead worship at our church, and can occasionally be spotted playing the blues, the folk, and now and again even a bit of Dad Rock.
I suppose the main thing to know for the purposes of this blog is that I have been involved in action on homelessness for about 20 years, the last 10 with Housing Justice.
Another reason for starting the blog is that, thanks to Housing Justice, I have an opportunity to take a sabbatical this summer. In July and August I'll be doing something that has been on my heart for a while: a personal pilgrimage around this country. I'll be walking and hitch hiking, visiting places that have significance for me, like Whitby where I was born, and places that have significance as centres of the Christian life, like Holy Island and Iona.
I'm also going to spend some time living on the streets, among people who are sleeping rough and using homelessness support services.
Why a pilgrimage? One reason is that I've taken part in the Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields Pilgrimage to Canterbury since 2007. Each Spring Bank Holiday weekend over a hundred people come together to walk the 74 miles from St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square to Canterbury Cathedral, raising funds for the Connection's work with homeless people in London. Françoise and I just got back, so it seems a good place to start, especially as I was invited to give a brief reflection at the Thanksgiving Service on Monday night in the Crypt of Canterbury Cathedral.
"Some people talk the talk, but we walk the walk, don't we? And we have the blisters to prove it!
This year was my seventh pilgrimage. I joined in 2007 when I heard about it from Roger Shaljean and his late wife Kath, who came up with the idea. Probably like many of you, the idea of a pilgrimage in support of homeless people made sense.
I first met Roger in 2003 when I started with Housing Justice, the national Christian campaign on housing and homelessness. Among other things we resource church responses to the needs of homeless people, like night shelters. And folks, I probably don't need to tell you, but the situation is getting worse. However I won't jump on that soap box here.
What I want to share is something of what this pilgrimage means to me. After seven years it looks like I'm hooked, but why?
This sense of a supportive community to belong to is something I really value, even something I need. In my own life I have for various reasons had a sense of being an outsider. I know this is partly what drew me to this work, responding to the issue of homelessness in our society.
But companionship, being together in fellowship with a community is vital to all of us, isn't it? It is no exaggeration to say that we need this to protect ourselves from (hat tip to Xavier and his Shakespeare recitation in Charing yesterday) the "Slings and arrows of outrageous fortune". Or, more simple, to help us to resist the alienating effects of "modern life".
The world, as viewed from where I sit with Housing Justice, is becoming a harder place. But we, together, don't have to become like that. And we, together, can take this difference into our lives, our families, our work (if we have some to do), and our neighbourhoods.
In this community of pilgrimage we find the love of God and of each other. And we discover that all we need is in each other, and this is our real and lasting treasure.