Hello Faith Pals,
Or should I call you ‘pilgrims?’
I have been reading about ancient cartographers-mapmakers-for some research I am doing. I love these medieval maps peppered with pictures of dragons, basilisks, griffins and sea monsters. Many of these strange animals were depicted as a warning to travelers. We might think these maps had the warning ‘here be dragons’ but that only happened on two globes- the rest of the time dragons were depicted in pictures.
Some of these map makers were monks or priests-trying to make sense of God’s world. Adam and Eve and the Garden of Paradise were of uttermost importance on these maps, before more scientific discoveries influenced geography a little differently.
Maps. Got me thinking about ‘faith maps.’ Some of us have read Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (I did many years ago). In the story Christian makes his way towards the Celestial City. Over the years book covers have depicted the map in different ways, the most common being the path as a spiral-his outward journey going inwards, to the Celestial City. That echoes our spiritual formation too, doesn’t it-we talk about going ‘inwards’ or ‘the inner journey’ towards God. ‘
What about the book itself? The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World to That Which Is To Come (1678) is a Christian allegory, and one of the most significant work of religious/theological fiction in English literature. It has been translated in more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print. It is also cited as the fist novel to written in English.
Bunyan began his work while in prison (imprisoned for holding church services outside the jurisdiction of the Church of England). He was jailed on a number of occasions, and it was thought he began the work during his long period of confinement-1660-1672.
The book is about the journey from the ‘City of Destruction’ (this world) to the Celestial City (Heaven). The main character, Christian, is helped and hindered along the way. Some of the characters include Evangelist, Obstinate, Pliable, Help, Mr Worldly Wiseman, Goodwill, The Interpreter (the Holy Spirit), Discretion, Charity, Hypocrisy, and Wanton.
Places include the Slough of Despair, Wicket Gate (the entry point of the straight and narrow way to the Celestial City), Valley of Humiliation, House Beautiful, and the River of the Water of Life. There is also the Valley of the Shadow of Death. As he enters the fearful Valley of the Shadow of Death one evening, amid the gloom and terror, he hears the word of the 23rd Psalm, spoken by his friend Faithful: ‘Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.’ When he leaves the valley, the sun rises on a new day, a new beginning.
This book has influenced many, including C.S Lewis, who wrote a book called The Pilgrim’s Regress, about his own journey from a religious childhood to a non-religious adulthood and then his rediscovery of God. The book has influenced many: from Charles Dickens, to William Thackeray, from Mark Twain to Alcott’s Little Women, from John Steinbeck to Enid Blyton (her book The Land of Far Beyond (1942) is a children’s version of The Pilgrim’s Progress), plus radio plays, musicals and video games.
How would you draw your faith journey? Would it be linear, in a straight line? What would you plot on it? Learning about Jesus from the stories your grandmother told you when you were young, sitting on her lap? Attending Sunday School? Experiences or crises that shook your faith, such as a death of a child, loss of employment, divorce, illness (so these may appear as piles of rocks on your path, or a pit, or take you off the path for awhile). Then the experiences that nourished you-birth of a child, marriage, a special holiday, the church family, baptism…how would you draw these? As a fountain of water on-route, as a flowering bush? So how would you draw your faith map? Or how would you picture it in your mind? Then bring all these experiences to God, these blessings that have molded and shaped you. What characters would you name and thank?
This is a copy of one of the maps of The Pilgrim’s Progress. Some editions had it as a fold out map at the back of the book. Here is another one, the circular movement of which I spoke earlier:
Well, that seems to be enough! I will close with the only hymn Bunyan wrote. In some versions (I notice this on Songs of Praise), Hobgoblin nor foul fiend’, has been sanitised, removed! I am glad our hymn book, Together In Song, kept them in!
1 Who would true valour see,
let them come hither;
those here will constant be,
come wind, come weather.
There’s no discouragement
shall make them once relent
each from a vowed intent
to be a pilgrim.
2 Those who beset them round
with dismal stories
cannot the brave confound:
their strength the more is.
No lion can them fright,
they’ll with a giant fight,
but each will have a right
to be a pilgrim.
3 Hobgoblin nor foul fiend
can daunt their spirit:
they know they at the end
shall life inherit.
Then fancies fly away;
they’ll scorn what people say,
and each work night and day
to be a pilgrim.
(John Bunyan)
News: Shirley Edwards is slowly improving. I told her that she was in our thoughts and prayers.
Now to close with this very special youtube clip:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/moBvLFbFdJ4?rel=0&autoplay=1
Thank you Margaret Knott. This is truly beautiful. The photography, the words of wisdom. Truly moving.
And a prompt for after watching the clip: what questions would YOU ask God in an interview? You don’t need to wait to interview God because we can pray, right now, and put those questions to our Loving God.
Blessings and love
Barbara
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