On the Way

I returned yesterday from a long weekend in Edinburgh at the United Reformed Church's General Assembly. The Moderator, Revd. John Marsh, took 'pilgrimage' as his theme. Amongst many good things in his moderatorial address he commented: "We're to sustain this pilgrimage journey, walking together through thick and thin, continuing a pilgrimage of faith, during which we share gifts from each other's experience, consider wounds whether suffered or inflicted, and allow visions and nightmares to be expressed and understood. On this pilgrimage there'll be serious giving and receiving; mutual accepting and challenging - to an unsettling degree. And it's a process, a journey. Today's pilgrims are not where they were yesterday - and tomorrow they'll be somewhere else." I like - and support - this idea of not being static. We do need to be on the move, whatever that may mean. I also like the recognition that it's not all good, but a mix. The dream of the moment may be a vision, but it may, also and alternatively, be a nightmare. That is actually worth recognising.