Pilgrimage Prayer

A pilgrimage is a sacred journey to a sacred site.
Muslims go to Mecca.
Hindus and Buddhists run off to India.
Jews go to Jerusalem.
So do Christians.
But they go other places too
like Iona
or Snowmass
or Rome
or Assissi,
all the places where the air is thin
where there is only a small distance between humans and the divine.

But Prague?
What's in Prague?
some ancient buildings
a river
statues of John Hus and Good King Wenceslas
But what else?
I know nothing of the city or what awaits me there.
I don't know what to hope for.
I know only that God has called me to this place
with this small group of people who will gather there.
We are strangers now.
I hope it doesn't stay that way.
I pray deep friendships will form,
that we shall write well of our experiences
and that our hearts and lives will be open to wonder and to one another.

I'm reminded of an image last year at El Rocio.
I shaped a bowl out of clay.
I added more and more water to it until it was as smooth as glass.
I was an open bowl waiting to be filled.
the rough edges were gone.

I think that's my prayer upon entering this journey
openness
trust that I shall be filled with presence of God however it comes to me
and that the rough edges will be as smooth as glass.