Is it a pilgrimage?

And so, back to the question at the start of the blog - is it a pilgrimage?
Although it wasn't planned in this way, it does seem as though all of my preparation to walk, the walk itself and the few days that there have been since my return have all been pointing towards this morning when I was collated and inducted as Vicar of St Francis and St Mary's churches in West Wickham.  I didn't think that this would make any difference to me, and practically, I don't think that it will.  However, I have a real sense that it was in that service, which began at St Mary's and continued at St Francis', that God was there confirming what I had reflected on at the start of my walk: that in giving myself up to God's grace and the peace that Jesus brings, all things are possible.

Two things seem to have been important throughout:
Peace (which reminds me of the prayer of St Francis - Lord, make me a channel of your peace ...).
Trust in God (which reminds me of the conversation between the Angel Gabriel and Mary, when she committed herself to serving God - Luke 1:37-38 : '… nothing is impossible with God.' Then Mary said 'Here am I, the servant of the Lord ...')

So, I believe that my pilgrimage started in a sacred place: St Mary and St Francis' churches, and it finished in the same sacred place, but the pictures now are of the insides, rather than the outsides of those buildings.