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Posted by Kirk, 6/26:

Okay, I know that what I'm posting is running behind the 'actual' date by a couple of days; so I'm going to try to catch up a bit.  Of course I am not online very much this week – our days are quite full, doing the stuff that we came here to do – and so I've gotten a little behind in this blog.   I will briefly summarize Wed, Thur, and Friday (it's now late Friday night as I write this).  But I will go back later and fill in more details – and more pictures – from these days; so keep posted.

Wednesday, Jun 24:  Today was a day we called "local culture" day – where we tried to visit certain places that, from an economic or cultural perspective, seem to say, "This is Vermont!"    Our first stop was the Lake Champlain Chocolate factory in downtown Burlington (yes, you should think 'Willy Wonka'; we did).   This 'tour' was pretty good, but we did not get to actually go onto the factory floor; instead we got the whole spell while standing in a "lobby" area that adjoined the workplace with a wall of glass.   Our host was very informative, however, using a combination of slide show presentations, videos, and 'hands-on' materials (chocolate seed pods, for instance) to tell us the story of how chocolate is produced into the wonderful concoctions that we all love.   The best part, though, was the samples that she passed out to all of us.

Next we headed down the road a bit, to Cabot, Vermont.   This is the home of the well-known Cabot Creamery,  makers of fine cheeses and other dairy products, sold all over the world.   Again, we were treated to a generous offering of samples; a video presentation and a walk through the factory area showed us not only how cheese is made, but also told us the story of the Cabot company itself (it's actually a co-op, owned and operated by the dairy farmers themselves).   One point that they kept emphasizing over and over, it seemed, was the fact that Vermont cheese (specifically Cabot) had won numerous awards in cheese "competitions" and so it was therefore considered "the best tasting cheese in America."   I have to mention that Father Hal, who has strong roots / connections in Wisconsin, wanted to object to this self-proclaimed designation, and he carried on a spirited debate with our guide about this.   Someone in our group, though, finally pointed out that Vermont – though it may have good cheese – did not have a professional football team whose fans proudly called themselves cheeseheads.

The last stop on this day's agenda (which, by the way, carried us through the state capital, Montpelier; I'll share with you later an interesting fact we learned about that 'city') was the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory, in Waterbury, Vermont.  We discovered that this place seems to be quite popular as a 'tourist attraction'; after we arrived and parked, we saw that the line to get in and take the tour was unreasonably long (in our consensus opinion).  So we decided we were okay without taking the actual tour.  One thing we did do, though, was find the "graveyard of unused flavors" that they maintain.  This is an area, in the back of the parking lot and under a small grove of shady trees, that represents some of the ice cream flavors they've had to 'bury'.   We got a few chuckles as we strolled through the graveyard - especially at the imaginative names they always seem to come up with for their flavors.

We headed back to camp after all that.   One thing that I want to tell you more about is how we have structured our days – especially the 'formal' prayer times that we have, and also how we designate different folks, on a rotating basis, to be in charge of things like cooking, etc.    I will write a separate post on this topic, later, because it has been a very important and a very enlightening part of our journey this week.

Thurs, Jun 25:   Today was the day that we had planned to visit a local organic farm, one that is operated as a co-op (providing regular food "shares" to the share-holders).   However, we were unable to get in touch with the folks at the farm to confirm the plans we had made earlier by email (we left phone messages which were not returned); so we decided to make this day a "quiet" day instead, staying at the camp, and enjoying a bit of rest from our busy schedules.   We had another session of Centering Prayer that day; we also designated a one-hour period of silence and 'alone-ness'; this was a time in which we were able to catch up, a bit, in our journal-writing.   Finally we enjoyed a couple of hours of 'self-guided' recreation right here at the camp – a simple means of recreation that did not involve having to load up into the car and drive off somewhere.   Most of us went swimming – this time at a different location within the Conference Center's extensive lakefront access, a place called Lone Rock Point.   I will post some pictures of this area a little later – but only after assuring everyone that all the boys are all just fine now, so don't get worried when you see the height of the rocks they were jumping off of, into the lake.   J

Friday, Jun 26:   Today we had planned to make a trip into Quebec, Canada – specifically to the city of Montreal.   As you may know, we had, early on, included an item like this in our "possible" agenda – even though we did not have any specific event/activity in mind for it  (we did make sure that we all had current passports, before we left home, since there is now a new requirement in place for travel back and forth from our northern neighbor).   Anyway, in talking to several people during the week, we got several suggestions on some activities that might "fit" for the kind of things we wanted to do (many people, by the way, keep suggesting that we visit this museum or that attraction...   but we are not just on a school field trip, you know, as useful as those may be.  This pilgrimage has a spiritual component to it that makes it entirely different from most "trips."    

One thing that was suggested, that we all thought would be interesting, was a visit to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Montreal.   So we included that as the first stop in our day's plans.   This cathedral, someone told us, is something like the fourth largest in the world...?      I'm not sure if that's true or not, but it is very large... and extremely ornate.  (It is quite a contrast to the cathedral we visited last Sunday, here in Burlington.)    It was definitely impressive (pics to follow on that).    After lunch at a nice little café (with somewhat of a European flair), we jumped on the city's subway system, and went to a place that some of the locals call simply "The Mountain."  This is a park that is located on the highest hill in Montreal; it supposedly provides some very nice views of the rest of the city.  I say supposedly because we didn't get as far as the top of the "mountain" so we never saw that particular view, but we did have a nice little stroll through part of a very nice city park.   After that, we used our skills in navigating public transportation systems to find our way to another cathedral-like structure (though they don't technically call it a 'cathedral'):  St. Joseph's Oratory.    Like the Notre Dame, this was also very impressive, but in a different way.   It is not nearly as ornate as Notre Dame, but it is massive.  We thought that it was actually bigger than Notre Dame (although we're not sure of that).   Its interior design is much more 'contemporary' but it was done in a very beautiful way  (again, pics will follow shortly, I promise).   One unexpected thing about St. Joseph's was that, since it is located high on a hill, you can get very nice views of the city from its upper terrace; so we got some nice 'high-altitude' pictures of the city, after all.  

As we were talking about both of the impressive "churches" we had seen today, Hal asked the pilgrims which one they liked better.   We talked about that for a bit (I think most of us actually gave the edge to St. Joseph's, even though it is not as well-known as Notre Dame).   But, on the way out of the building, Andrew confided to me that he liked St. Anne's better than either one of them.   J

Tomorrow (Sat) is our last full day here, and we have purposely left this day 'open' in our schedule.   We'll decide in the morning what we want to do in it.   More to follow (perhaps tomorrow night)...

Peace and goodnight,

-Kirk

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 Posted by Kirk, Jun 26:

Before leaving for Montreal, we had the opportunity to stop off at the Bishop's office – which is located here on the property of the Conference Center – and meet with Bishop Ely, the current bishop of the Diocese of Vermont.   He was very gracious in being able to take some time out of his day in order to speak with us.

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Posted by Hal, Jun 27:

It has occurred to me that as you read the blog, you have no idea we pilgrims are following an order of the day.  The order of the day is guided by two parts.  First we have a pre-agreed upon daily schedule: 

8:00 – pilgrims arise

9:00 – breakfast

9:30 – Morning Prayer

10:00 – work of the day

Noon – lunch

1:00 – afternoon work of the day

  (there may be a period of quiet reflection here instead, or as well)

5:00 or 6:00 (varies) – Eucharist

6:00 pm (approx) – dinner

  (following dinner we may have a period of recreation)

9:00 – Compline, with a shared reflection on our "question of the day"

Each day one person is assigned as the prayer leader – or 'hebdom' ('heb' for short).  Two others are assigned to cook (the dinner meal).  This spreads the tasks out over the week and no one is stuck will all of one job.  The hebdom is responsible for setting the schedule for each day.  The heb takes into account all that we are doing and then calls for consensus on the day's plans.

Cooks are responsible for seeing that we have meal time.  They can buy groceries and prepare a meal.  They can make arrangements with the dining hall staff, here at the Conference Center, so that we can take some of our meals there.  Or they select what place we stop, if we are on the road.

The second guide we use is paying attention to the spiritual learning of the moment.  Our goal of the Vermont Pilgrimage is to encounter God – in culture and in spirit.  So if a particular encounter is particularly rich and runs on a little longer than expected, we are free to re-group and consent to a revised schedule.

I will say this group has been committed to covering all the set plans.  And at the same time we have taken plenty of time to drink in our experiences.  For example, in Montreal we were slowed by doing more walking than we had expected.  However, we made the trek to St. Joseph's Oratory (as we had wanted to) and simply added time to our stay there.  We each found that decision valuable, as we reflected on our experience of Notre Dame, St. Joseph's, and St. Anne's.

For pilgrimage to be effective we knew we had to have a schedule.  We also knew that we had to be flexible.  And for that balance to work we had to be attuned to God working with us at any given moment.

A word about our reflection time:  Each day I provide the "question of the day."   I had drafted these before we left Winston-Salem.   However I might adapt them, mindful of what may come up as we journey.   Here are some of the questions we've discussed:

"Why God?"    ...when the world offers other options.

"Who is my brother?"   ...and why?

"How does your lifestyle show others your faith?"

"Do you find God in Nature?"    ...if so, how?

"How do you experience or relate to others who are different from you – especially different racially?"   ...and what does 'acceptance' mean?

"Do politics and faith mix?"    ...if so, how?

"What is the gift of a pilgrimage?"

Each pilgrim – all of us – is invited to share our reflections.  We generally do this at the end of Compline.  I always find this a spiritual high.  The reflections in Vermont have been tremendous.  Although I will not share the content without permission, I will say that we have shared a deep current of spiritual insight with each other.

This is some of how we have journeyed.   There is much that has helped shape our time together – especially since we have made ourselves available.

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Posted by Kirk, 6/27:

I've got a couple of general topics I want to talk about today...  not so much anything about a specific place we went or any one thing that we did; just some overall themes that seem to have run throughout the week for us.

First I'd like to talk a bit about what has become our "daily routine" – our rhythmic cycle – especially the spiritual part of it.   About how we spend time together, each day, and worship/pray/share together – in several varying formats.   Of course we are constantly thinking and talking about all kinds of topics, but there are certain times which we have designated as "formal" prayer times together.

First of all, we have one person each day who is the "hebdom"; this person is our prayer leader for the day. They make the decisions about when / where we will have our prayer times.  This duty is rotated among the three pilgrims.   Our basic prayer times are:  Morning Prayer (which might be any time around mid-morning, give or take a bit); Eucharist (usually held in late afternoon, before dinner); and Compline, our last prayer time together, which closes out our day. Within this general framework, we have some flexibility, depending on what other activities we are doing that day.  So the hebdom will decide the specifics about when we will meet for each of these services, in what setting we will meet, as well as which particular forms and prayers we will use for each prayer service.  We have used a number of meeting places so far; the chapel onsite is of course a natural place, but we have also met at an "outdoor chapel" which is not far from our cabin.   We've met around our meal table (wherever that might be at the moment); we've met in the recreation cabin; we've met on the small "beach" at the lake; and we even held prayer service in the car one evening, as we were returning late from the Priory.   No two services have been the same, of course.  This has certainly been a great learning experience for our pilgrims; as they take on 'leadership' roles in the prayer service, they are paying closer attention to the rich liturgy we have available in the BCP (by the way, we are all using our newly-presented prayer books, which is very nice).   I have enjoyed seeing each one of our pilgrims opening up to this experience.

Another thing I'd like to talk about a bit is the other folks who are at the Conference Center this week.  (When we first arrived, last Saturday, we seemed to be the only folks on site; but as the weekend progressed, and rolled into Monday, other people began arriving here, for some other programs/activities being hosted here this week.)  There are basically two other groups.  One is a group of about a dozen or so folks –  'young adults' for the most part – who appear to be fairly local residents.  They are here pursuing a two-week course in Permaculture (which I believe is sponsored by the Univ. of Vermont).    All of these folks are very nice, and also very serious about their studies (which seems to be fascinating, by the way).   But we have little direct contact with them, other than sharing the dining hall facilities and passing each other on the grounds.   The second group is a small (about 6 or 7) group of summer camp counselors, who are here getting things ready for the opening of Rock Point Summer Camp (which opens next week).   Most of these counselors are staying in some of the cabins that are adjacent to ours.  The guys in our group connected very easily to this group of folks; they were a little bit older, but they were on the same spiritual wavelength.   Our pilgrims made some new friends with these folks pretty quickly, and it was in some way part of the answer to one of our prayers earlier in the week (to be able to connect to other young folks who have a similar spiritual background).   One evening this group of folks – including all of the counselors and their two adult leaders, joined us in the chapel for a "joint" Compline service.   I think everyone enjoyed that quite a bit.  By today, as the week has drawn to an end, I'm pretty sure that one or two telephone numbers were exchanged.  So now, our list of memorable "things" from this pilgrimage also includes a few PEOPLE.   J

My last thought today has to do with pilgrimage in general.  Of course it's natural to reflect on this as we begin to conclude out journey; in fact, Hal posed one of our last 'questions of the day' around the topic "what is the pilgrimage gift?"   I have to say that, for me, it does not matter *where* you go on your pilgrimage as much as it matters *what* you do when you get there.   And I don't mean just the various "scheduled" events, etc, that we've done (and enjoyed); what has mattered is the time we have spent exercising our spirits – alone, with God, and with each other.    I have definitely seen spiritual growth in every member of our group this week – young men and adults alike.   And of course we have all grown closer to each other (how could you not?  ...sharing common living quarters as we have for a week).  I think we've actually gotten just a "taste" of some of that "Common Life" that Brother John talked with us about...  learning to live with each other, showing respect for one another.  No, we're not monks yet; but you could say that we – without realizing it – kind of put our big toe into the waters of "monastic" life.

Now one might be tempted to say, if you just needed to slow down and spend more time with God, then hey, you could have just stayed home and done that.   True, to some extent, we probably could (and we need to learn how to do that).   The reality, for most of us, is that it is just plain hard to get ourselves "untethered" from all of the things that distract us on a daily – even hourly – basis.   Putting some distance between ourselves and those siren calls does seem to quiet them, and it lets us focus on the "true" realities of life.   I guess the physical trip has been a sort of catalyst for this spiritual process.   Now the challenge will be to return to that "routine" world back home and continue in the spiritual glow that we now enjoy.   Yep, we have definitely been on a journey this week.

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