Week 1: Advent Pilgrimage Resources

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Advent Pilgrims!

Here's our email to you for this first week of our Advent Pilgrimage filled with information. During this week, the focus is on familiarizing yourself with the document "New Worlds Being Born" linked here, preparing for the practices that will be part of your pilgrimage (praying, writing, listening, etc.), and planning your route in your neighborhood. Here is a link to the first week of the Pilgrimage. 

If you would like to prepare your route online, here is a Link to Sample Route (screenshot) and a Link to Jackie’s video tutorial on how to make your route online

In addition to our large group gatherings on Sundays, there may be some of you who would like to be part of a smaller group of pilgrims during this time. This group could meet midweek on Zoom and share stories and experiences with each other. If you would be interested, please email Pr. Martin (sautermartin35@gmail.com) and Pr. Jeff (pastor@ulcberkeley.org)

We are including the Blessings of the Pilgrims which we used at the end of liturgy on Sunday, "Benedicto" by Edward Abbey: 

"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous,
Leading to the most amazing view. 
May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. 
May your rivers flow without end,
​Meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells,
Past temples and castles and poets towers
Into a dark primeval forest where tigers belch and monkeys howl, 
Through miasmal and mysterious swamps
And down into a desert of red rock, blue mesas,
Domes and pinnacles and grottos of endless stone, 
And down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm
Where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs,
Where deer walk across the white sand beaches, 
Where storms come and go as lightning clangs upon the high crags, 
Where something strange
And more beautiful
And more full of wonder
Than your deepest dreams waits for you --
Beyond that next turning of the canyon walls.”

A number of you have asked for links to these additional resources. Some of them you may wish to incorporate into your pilgrimage planning.

• Link to a description of Seven-week Advent
• Intern Clare's Guide for setting up a sacred space during Advent
• Link to Phil's website where you can follow his blog or find information about the film we watched together, Phil's Camino.​
• Link to “Who Was Howard Thurman," an article published by Boston University

Or these Links from Sunday's Joint Liturgy on Advent 1 (November 8th)

• "O Come, O Come, Emanuel" on the hammered dulcimer, used during the lighting of the first Advent Candle.
• Link to Ruth Mc Donnell's 1st harp piece:  Scarúint na gCompánach (Parting of Companions)
• Link to the Howard Thurman Reading from Sunday
• Link to Ruth Mc Donnell's 2nd harp piece:  Air to St Finbarr 
• Lord's Prayer (paraphrase from Central America), referenced in Pr. Jeff's Sermon
• Lord's Prayer (paraphrase from Lala Winkley in "Celebrating Women"), referenced in Intern Clare's Sermon

Blessings on your preparations. Be in touch with either of us with thoughts, questions, etc. Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday 9am PST/5pm GMT

Pastor Jeff Johnson & Pastor Martin Sauter, partners on pilgrimage
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