"Quite as often prayer calls for domestic mutations: not for leaving home or past or present companions, but for living differently among them. The Muslim writer Hallaj describes how a Muslim, when he cannot go on the coveted pilgrimage to Mecca, may construct in his own yard a simple square enclosure where, on the day of pilgrimage, he can make the circuit and perform the ceremonies as he would have done at Mecca....How often prayer provides us with a similar substitution for a pilgrimage."

To Practice: Find ways for prayer to serve as a stand in for pilgrimage to a holy place or, better yet, create a pilgrimage in your own neighborhood, seeking signs of God's immanent presence.