A Pilgrimage

Early in his book The Divine Conspiracy, Willard makes the comment, "We are invited to make a pilgrimage - into the heart and life of God" (p. 17).

The first time or two I read this statement I glossed over it. But last week it gripped me, and I spent time thinking and praying about it. I began by reflecting on the word ""pilgrimage." In fact, I took down my dictionary and checked the meaning of the word. It confirmed what I already knew - a pilgrimage is a journey to a shrine or a holy place. I found that a helpful starting place for reflection.

Normally we don't associate a "pilgrimage" with a person but with a place. We think of people making pilgrimages to Mecca, to the Vatican, or to one of the many shrines dedicated to Mary throughout the world. But the thought of making a journey "into the heart and mind of God" - that's new. Is it right to think of our relationship with God in these terms?

It has become very popular today to think of the spiritual life as a journey. A journey has a beginning, a destination, and takes place through a series of stages. Our spiritual lives are like that. They have a beginning, they travel along a path, and they are headed to a destination.

But can they be thought of as a "journey into the life and heart of God"? Basically our spiritual life is a journey toward God. Knowing him, becoming like him, doing his will, and ultimately being in his presence, lies at the heart of Christian spiritual life. In reconciling us and calling us to himself, God calls us into a relationship that is personal, real, and ultimately, incredibly intimate. He wants us to know him, to enjoy him, to experience his love and grace. More than that, he wants us to participate with him in his eternal kingdom purposes. And he wants us to open our hearts wide to him.

This kind of relational interaction can be thought of in terms of coming to know his mind and heart. God hasn't hidden himself from us; quite the opposite, he has made himself know magnificently. One only has to think of passages in the Bible such as Hosea 11 to know that. "When Israel was a child, I loved him," says the Lord through the prophet Hosea. "I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them" (vv. 1, 4). Again, "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel... My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is roused" (v. 8).

Here God is unveiling his heart to his people Israel - and to us today. He is telling us that he loves us deeply and desires our love in return. He wants us to enter into a covenant of love with him, much as a bride does with her husband when she marries. He is not, in other words, calling us to live at a great distance from him without any personal acquaintance with him. He spreads his arms wide, as it were, and bids us live with him in the intimacy of a tender love relationship.

Viewed in this way, Willard's words are not out of place. God does set before humankind everywhere an invitation to make a journey - a journey toward him, and into intimate participation in his life and purposes.  It's astonishing that this should be so.