Home

Sometimes the longing for home is irresistible and you begin to wonder: well, why resist? Derby Cathedral's service had been so wonderful it seemed like it might be a beautiful ending to this second pilgrimage. So I got on my bike and rode.

Around 8.30pm I rang the doorbell and a rather surprised Sally opened the door.

During two pilgrimages, which took about a month and a half, I've covered around 3,500 km on two 50cc mopeds. I've travelled through five countries, crossed the Alps, lived in monastic communities, joined worship in dozens of churches and cathedrals and prayed alone in countless others. I've met people across Europe and made friends across language and culture barriers. I've slept rough in fields, woods, verges, once in a hammock, and twice in bike parks. I've prayed the Jesus Prayer until it's lodged in my heart like the devotional equivalent of an ear worm. I've travelled through a 42°C heatwave in central Italy and shivered through cold, wet nights in the rain in Scotland. It feels like enough. 

I'm home. It's good.

///hoped.clear.drifter