journeys and pilgrimages

For the past 5 or 6 years, I've been collecting quotations, squirreling them away in a Word document like nuts for the long winters of sermon writing ahead. No rhyme or reason; whenever a phrase or story appealed to me, I'd assiduously copy it down in the .doc. Yesterday, though, in one of the most fantastic fits of writing procrastination I've ever experienced, I sorted all the quotes by topic - 32 pages' worth.

It was fascinating, and gratifying. I was able to pull a really great story to use in my sermon this morning. My favorite topic, I think, is "journeys and pilgrimages." Below are some prime examples. Enjoy!

"And the world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles, no matter how long, but only by a spiritual journey, a journey of one inch, very arduous and humbling and joyful, by which we arrive at the ground at our feet, and learn to be at home." ~ Wendell Berry

"You cannot step twice into the same river, for other waters are ever flowing on to you." ~ Heraclitus

"Only flatlanders brake while driving uphill." ~ my dad (I find this to be true, and profound, on many levels)

"Never trust a turn signal." ~ my high school driver's ed coach

"Go Godward. You will find a road." ~ Russian proverb

"If you are a creeping thing, then you are a creeper!" ~ my seminary Hebrew professor

"Have you ever seen an inchworm crawl up a leaf or a twig, and then, clinging to the very end, revolve in the air, feeling for something, to reach something? That's like me. I am trying to find something out there beyond the place on which I have footing." ~ Albert P. Ryder

"We do not want to be beginners. But, let us be convinced of the fact that we will never be anything else but beginners, all our life!" ~ Thomas Merton, Contemplative Prayer

"I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs." ~ Frederick Douglass

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away." ~ Thoreau

"A ship is safe in harbour, but that's not what ships are for." ~ William Shedd