"Travel is a holy journey for pilgrims, loaded with unexpected surprises, mysteries and possibilities that can stir our hearts and bring us spiritual and bodily wholeness," writes Leonard J. Biallas, Professor of Theology & Religious Studies at Quincy University in Illinois. In this inspiring paperback, he models for us the many ways we can turn our travel into a spiritual adventure. Anyone who hits the open road with a hospitable mind will identify with Biallas who sees a journey as a chance to experience the unexpected, to broaden cultural horizons, to imagine and wonder, to ask questions to gain new revelations, to find the past, to have direct experience of the present moment, to change perspective on ourselves, and to illuminate and rediscover our own culture. But pilgrims go beyond these noble ideals as they embark on a quest "to find the sacred in everyday experiences and to transform their selves through deeper connectedness with God, others, and the world."
In chapters on nature, cities, museums, monuments, cemeteries, sacred centers, and alternative travel. the author opens our eyes and imaginations to all the wild and wonderful places that can refresh our spirits and renew our bodies, minds, and souls. Biallas taps into the multifaith resources that can enhance our pilgrimages as he shares insights from Hindus on cities, Muslims on gardens, North American Indians on art, Chinese sages on family, Buddhists on sacred monuments, Jews on cemeteries, and Christians on cathedrals and icons. The last three chapters center around homecoming and the enrichments that can accrue from what we have experienced abroad.
Bialles makes a convincing case that our spiritual travels can change the ways in which we look at home and self, conviviality and hospitality, sacred sites, and openness to differences among people. Here is a sampler of some of the wonderful quotations that spice up the proceedings:
"Journeys are occasionally terrifying, sometimes fulfilling, always exciting. What is commonplace at home takes on a new luster in a foreign land."
— Robert McAfee Brown
"Allah has laid out the Earth for you
like a vast carpet
so that you will travel
its endless roads."
— The Qur'an
"All journeys have secret destinations
of which the traveler is unaware."
— Martin Buber
"Our real journey in life is interior
it is a matter of growth, deepening,
and an ever greater surrender to the creative
action of love and grace in our hearts."
— Thomas Merton
