Pilgrimage Reflection

Praying with our feet-- Sr. High Pilgrimage of Pain & Hope 2011: Memphis

Saturday, January 15, five youth pilgrims and 4 adult pilgrimage guides headed from Nashville to Memphis for the second BUMC Sr. High Pilgrimage of Pain and Hope. It was a great weekend, where every participant received gifts we will carry with us forever-- I know!

Over the next week or two I will be posting reflections from the Pilgrimage participants along with photographs. We hope to have an official presentation in February.

Hope you are blessed by our offering.

Peace of Christ.

lanecia

"The public memory and story of Memphis will always include the sanitation strike of 1968, the prophetic vision of the mountaintop proclaimed by Dr. King, and the wreath that hangs outside of Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel. The slaying of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. within the greater Civil Rights Movement marks the horrendous power of racial tension, fear of the 'other,' and the use of violence as a viable option in political policy.

In a political climate marred by violence and anger toward the 'other,' there is a small voice leading toward an alternative existence. It is the calling to realize the 'beloved community,' indeed to be the household of God seated around table. As we learn to eat and drink across the boundaries of 'otherness,' our neighbors become friends, and our friends become family. Who are you willing to welcome at the table?"

-Adam Kelchner. January 17th, 2010. Memphis, Tennessee.