Saturday, December 31, 2016
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My name is Ann Sieben. I'm American by birth and global in existance. I was in
In December 2007, I began a longer pilgrimage from
After that, I found that there were still many miles in my legs. I chose a route with Aix la Chapelle (aka
The life of a winter pilgrim suits me just fine. As winter approached, I prepared to walk the next ancient path discovering the world at a comfortable pace, meeting people, experiencing an interesting world in a slightly non-traditional way. Another winter, another walk; I walked from Kyiv, Ukraine to Patras, Greece along the general route of St Andrew in the first century.
A silent pilgrim does the world no good, so I've given talks and spoken to many diverse groups about these pilgrimages. A recurring, slightly cynical, comment was often made - 'sure something like this might be able to be done in Europe, but not in the US...it's not in our culture, no one would open their door to a pilgrim.;
It saddened me to hear this, and I disagreed. To demonstrate that North Americans are just as kind as Europeans, I set out last autumn from my home in Denver, Colorado to Mexico City on yet another historical path. The early Spanish settlers established a Royal Road from Mexico City as far north as Taos, New Mexico, a little over 100 miles south of Denver. What a success!! Americans are just as friendly as Europeans. So are Mexicans.
Just when I thought my pilgrim life was a thing of the past, the Arab Spring allowed inspiration to enter my heart with the possibility to walk across the history of North Africa. While full of trials and tribulations - barred from entering Algeria, prematurely expelled from Libya, and hurried across the Sinai - the fact that the world is really full of good people was underscored with more great success.
o City, this time through South and Central America. Follow along...Shortly after arrival at the pilgrim destination, I was inspired again by the Empress of the Americas and am compelled to make a long journey again to the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexic
Be a pilgrim =)
5 comments:
So nice to see photos! You are looking healthy and happy Anne! Happy New Year and enjoy this outstanding expérience!
The Ishinomaki priest celebrated Mass yesterday morning and he talked about you during his homily!
Firstly he had rejected having a female guest over as he was living alone, and it might not be good. It was also too late at night to call other parishioners to host a guest. However when he mentioned this to his parishioners the next day, all of them told him to accept the guest! So he did.
He said initially he was skeptical about the walk, how could it be a form of evangelisation?
He even thought, "ahh, my well-ordered life would be disturbed for the day."
As he heard your stories (monkeys, being held at gunpoint, having people ask for prayers), he realised the significance of the walk, the significance for evangelisation and he was converted. It was a good homily ^^
Held at gunpoint? Have I missed something? This was on a different pilgrimage?
Keep the reports flowing. You have lots of people following you, and curious about this amazing adventure in Japan.
Stay safe and healthy.
Roscoe
Hello, This is Akiko from Sendai.Good to know that you walked to Ishinomaki safely.
I hope to see how you will travel and succeed of your pilgrimage.
Akiko Smith
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