Peeling a Pomegranate

Every year for the past five years Becoming has made a pilgrimage to the source of the Potomac River. The first time I went because Angela suggested we do it, and it seemed like a fun idea. We honestly had no idea what we’d find there! It was really a leap of faith. The next year I went because I dug the idea of blessing the headwaters of the river that feeds my city, and we were making a weekend trip of it. For the next several years, my reasons for going were pretty much along those lines — and the trip had become a fun weekend getaway. The year we went and there was practically no water was a shockingly emotional experience. It took me by total surprise that I could be that upset that this little spring was dry. But still, all the experience was external connections to the land.

This year, something new happened. A new layer of connection occurred. I realized that the trip had become not only a chance to connect with the land around me, but also the land within. I was now making a journey not only to the beginnings of a great river, but I was also using it as a time to reach down and connect to the springs of my own self. The pilgrimage has taken on new depths for me. Along with a fun weekend and a chance to bless the source of the Potomac comes a chance to refresh myself before the Spring Equinox. It’s a cosmic “time out” before Winter gives way to Spring and I’m expected to grow, grow, grow!

Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a global movement of people adopting this type pilgrimage experience? Not that you all should come to the source of the Potomac — it’s not your river. But what if groups around the world journeyed to the source of the water for their region at the Spring Equinox? What if they used that trip for ecological understanding and spiritual growth? Maybe someday we’ll all treat the land we live in as a sacred place, as much as any hill or rock in the land of our ancestors. Maybe we’ll treat sacred places as sacred and actually care for them and not fight over them, but that’s another dream.

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