Just Want to Party!

[Douglass Norvell]

What if I don't want to feel the sting of burning questions?

What if I just want to walk, party and drink lots of wine?

Should I still do the Meseta?

Douglass Norvell

----- Original Message -----
From: Michael P. Barham <mpb5aDUKE.EDU>
To: <GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2003 11:54 AM
Subject: Don't hop on the bus through the mesate


> I highly recommend  NOT skipping the mesata -- it is part of the
pilgrimage.
> In fact, I will be preaching on that this coming Ash Wednesday.
>
> I have found most people confuse boredom with inner struggle.  The reality
> of such wide open, flat spaces means we lose the distraction of figuring
out
> where to put our feet.  The mesata is where people can really start
feeling
> the sting of the burning questions or concerns prompting them to walk in
the
> first place.  It is easier to avoid such needed self-evaluation and inner
> contemplation when you are basking in the beauty of mountains or
constantly
> worrying about where to put your feet so you don't trip.
>
> However, it takes a willingness to engage with ones self, and not look
> peripherally at life -- we are so used to not allowing things to effect
us,
> we put up barriers.  If we take those down, I think we can find the
routine
> and simplicity of the Mesata offers us a great beauty.  But, then again,
> most of us are used to what the media tell us is beautiful, or that
complex
> is beautiful, so we fail to look for the inner beauty of things -- perhaps
I
> am suggesting nature has an inner beauty as well as a superficial one.
>
> In preparation for the meseta, may I suggest the book, The Solace of
Fierce
> Landscapes: Exploring Desert and Mountain Spiritualit, by Lane.  Pilgrim
at
> Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard is also good for helping us think about how
> any part of nature can be inspiring if we open ourselves to it -- but,
then
> the romantics like Thoreau tought us that too.
>
> If you have to skip some, I suggest you at least take a couple of days to
> walk in the Meseta, so you begin to get a little of the inner journey
quite
> different from the inner journey experienced walking in less open/flat
> spaces.
>
> Pilgrims in the middle ages HAD to experience the Mesata, they didn't have
> the option of a bus  -- our taking such liberties, I think, detract from
the
> "pilgrim" experience of having to endure even the parts we don't find
> particularly interesting, hopeful we can learn to see beauty and deepen
> knowledge.
>
> There is also a beauty of its own -- listening to the chirp of a bird
carry
> over seemingly endless space -- we might be reminded of our mortality, but
> we might also experience the infinitude of life (for those who believe in
> eternal/after life).
>
> Peace,
> Michael Barham