Stortz: Path of pilgrimage more meaningful than destination

By Rachel Pritchett, communicator

TACOMA — “Pilgrimage” was the topic April 21 at St. Mark’s by The Narrows 
Lutheran Church, where special guest the Rev. Dr. Marty Stortz said it’s not the destination that's as important as the journey itself.

Stortz, longtime professor at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in 
California and now chair of religion and vocation at Augsburg College in Minnesota, said those who feel pulled to go somewhere else in life other than where they are must prepare for the trip. Whatever the pilgrimage is, there always is a wistfulness or sorrow 
at what's left behind.

“To do something, you have to break away from something else,” she said. Along the way comes newfound community, shared stories and shared experiences, not planned but meant to be. Also on the journey there is a breaking down of the old and a rebuilding of the new, resulting in a transformation of the soul, she said.

That is how it is with the life pilgrimage of a Christian seeking Christ, she said to about 50 attendees. She quoted Hugh of St. Victor, who lived from 1096 to 1141:

“He who loves his own country best is yet a beginner.

He for whom all countries are as if they were his own, has advanced far.

But he is perfect for whom the whole world is a foreign country.”

Pictured: The Rev. Dr. Marty Stortz talks to Doug Dahlgren at St. Mark’s by The Narrows on April 21.