Pilgrims

As children, many of us were taught about the early American Pilgrims who journeyed across the Atlantic in search of religious freedom, and a better life in the New World.

In every family, culture, and nation there are histories, real or imagined, that conjure up vivid imagery of ancestors making their way to a distant land, seeking a better life.

The Bible is no exception. Actually, the Bible is one really long story of bondage, struggle, liberation, pilgrimage, conflict, sacrifice, and most of all love.

Regardless of our world view, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit the we are all seeking a better place where we too can live happily ever after.

El Santuario de Chimayó – Chimayó, New Mexico

I recently visited El Santuario de Chimayó in Northern New Mexico. People from all over the world come here seeking healing, peace, solace, and hope.

On the outside, El Santuario looks like a humble country church. On the inside, beautiful paintings, carvings, and inscriptions tell the story of God’s eternal sacrifice of His Son as ransom for His imprisoned children. Also adorning the interior, are images of those who have gone before, seeking freedom, a better place, and most of all eternal life.

At the front of the church, a special food is stored, ready for consumption by all who seek nourishment for their journey. But this is not just food for the body, it is food for the soul. As a matter of fact, it is the flesh of God Himself, the One Who wants to sustain us on our journey. Although It looks simple on the surface, It is more powerful than Plutonium, ready to detonate with searing intensity deep within us so that we might be transformed from mere flesh into Divinity.

Anyone who believes is welcome to eat this food. Not as an experiment, or as a dare, but as a matter of true devotion.

We are all pilgrims, on a journey that we only partially understand, to a place that we cannot imagine. Yet, not only in Chimayó, but throughout the whole world, the Eternal God offers Himself to us as strength for the journey to the eternal place He has prepared for us.

If only we would truly believe this.