By Chuck Davis
Sentinel Contributor
Where are you going in 2016? What is your vision for the New Year? I learned some valuable lessons on vision this summer.
I had the privilege of walking three ancient Christian pilgrimage routes: El Camino—the St. James Way in France and Spain; St. Michael’s Way in England; and the Kerry Way in Ireland.
Pilgrimage is an ancient practice of walking to a holy site while prayerfully paying attention to the things that are taking place within our inner person and the world around us. My journey this summer opened me up to multiple fresh experiences of God, myself, humanity, and creation. It was so fruitful that I am returning in May with a group from our church to do a portion of “The Way” in Spain.
One of lessons that came alive to me during the pilgrimage was the challenge of fresh vision in the familiarity of everyday life.
This lesson came on St. Michael’s Way in Cornwall, England. I began the journey at St. Uny Church in Lelant, walking the coastal path to St. Ives. I then proceeded on the overland route from St. Ives to St. Michael’s Mount on the other side of the peninsula. It was supposed to be about 10 miles, but getting lost turned it into 12-plus.
Part of my challenge was that within two miles from my ascent out of St. Ives, the pilgrimage markers disappeared. I asked people on the street about “The Way”—but they had no idea what I was referring to.
So after realizing people did not know “St. Michael’s Way,” I resorted to pulling out a contemporary map to see about negotiating the direction toward Marazion and St. Michael’s Mount. I was told point-blank by the first two women, “You cannot get there from here.”
I tried to explain that I knew the way was long—10 miles—but that I was on pilgrimage and was prepared for the long walk. I had a vision. The locals could not comprehend my vision. Finally, the one woman could not take my persistence any longer, so she grabbed my hand and said, “Come with me, I will take you to the bus stop so that you can get there from here.” I thanked her and moved on.
Lesson No. 1: Sometimes familiarity and regular patterns of life can make fresh vision unimaginable to us.
I arrived at a second bus stop and this time a group gathered around me to help with directions. Several of these people were also convinced that you cannot walk from “here” to “there.” So I went to a backup strategy. “Can you tell me how to walk toward Trencrom Hill?” This was a landmark about two miles away. “Go to the cemetery and take a right.” That destination was close enough to engage the local imagination.
Lesson No. 2: Break the larger vision down into segments of a journey rather than looking only to the final destination.
So I come back to my first questions. Where are you going in 2016? What is your vision for the New Year? Remember, if you share your vision with others they might be limited in their ability to imagine the final destination from their vantage point. Don’t allow their negativity to stop the journey. Get wisdom from good counselors but know the vision killers in your life.
One of my sources for encouragement in realizing vision for my life and the community that God has called me to lead is my daily conversation with God around his Word, the Bible. What I find in reading the Hebrew Scriptures is that God always was leading his people into a preferred future. What I find in reading the gospels is that Jesus took great delight in visionary faith of the people he encountered.
I am not surprised by these revelations as the God revealed in the written and by living Word is the God who likes “to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20-12).
And better yet, if we ask him, he will give us a vision worth imagining into!
The Rev. Dr. Chuck Davis is senior pastor at Stanwich Congregational Church.
