what's the big idea?

I'm going to be asking you folks for a lot. In this post, I want to explain what, exactly, I'm going to need from the people I meet as I make my way eastward across America.

One recurrent question has been, "What's your route?" I thought long and hard about whether I should be planning my route in great detail, or whether I should "put myself in God's hands," going where the wind blows me.

I've decided that, given the Walk's religious theme, I'd like to try putting my life into the hands of the people I meet. This is a concept I'd had long before I had heard about Mark Boyle, a plucky, mid-20s Irishman who had done well in the business world, but then decided to rely on the compassion of his fellow human beings as he made his way-- with almost no possessions-- from his native land to Gandhi's birthplace in Porbandar, India.*

My concept, though, isn't nearly as radical as Mr. Boyle's. I plan on having a backpack. I'm hoping to be prepared for whatever weather I might encounter, based on geography and season. And I'm going to be a bit more forward than Mr. Boyle about my expectations, because I want my route to plan itself for me.

I'll be starting my Walk in Coquitlam, British Columbia, a city not far from Vancouver and not far from the US border. I'm starting there because I'm lucky enough to have a good friend out yonder who is not only excited about this Walk, but who has very kindly offered to help me get through the Walk's first baby steps.

Say hello once again to the inimitable Nathan Bauman.

As I wrote in my FAQ post, the Walk is to be a kind of "connect the dots" between various religious communities and centers-- churches, temples, synagogues, mosques, ashrams, and whatever else I might encounter along the way. I'm hoping that the space between the "dots" will be no more than 20 to, at maximum, 30 miles.

But in order to connect the dots, I need some dots to connect! I want this to be a path not of my planning: once the first house of worship takes me, they'll be the ones to point me on to the next house of worship.

So what I need is simply a house of worship within a 30-mile radius of the previous house of worship (or religious center, or whatever label is appropriate). Well before I arrive, the previous "dot" will pass along to the next "dot" the fact that

(1) I plan to stay just for a night (two maximum, depending on how late in the day I arrive, though this might change if inclement weather becomes a problem), that

(2) I want to talk with the laity and/or clergy for a few hours (say, 2-4 hours, if they want), that

(3) I'll need a place to sleep, shower, shave, etc., and that

(4) giving me food is purely optional. I can sleep on their building's grounds if they want, or if there's a nearby residence (owned by a member of the laity or clergy), I'll gladly spend the night there.

ALSO: people need to be willing to be audio- and/or video-recorded during the discussion, and I need their permission to be (a) written about and (b) displayed on the walk blog. I have zero intention of badmouthing or otherwise acting ungrateful toward any of the people I meet, so they shouldn't worry about negative publicity from me. Recorded conversations will be posted in their entirety on the site so I can't be accused of editing unfairly.

Another thing I need from that community will be guidance as to where I'm going next. This can take one of two forms: someone can walk with me to the next spot, or they can draw me a map that guides me to the next spot, including as much detail as will be necessary to get me there safely.

Finally, I want a promise from each religious community that they'll keep in touch with the next (and previous) place(s) I visit. Example: after I leave Spot B, I want the B people to remain in touch with spots A and C. Hopefully, A and C will represent different religious traditions from B, and that will be the groundwork for some sort of interreligious praxis.** If not interreligious, then interdenominational.

Another question I have gotten from several sources is, "What about travel companions?" --or I've gotten its variant, usually delivered as an incredulous, "Are you doing this alone?"

This may be a good time to wax a bit religious:

You're never alone.

Various traditions deal with this question in different ways. If you see the world as the meeting-place of big and small powers, of sprites and fairies and djinni and elementals, of ghosts and demons and deity-pantheons and fantastic beasts, then how can you ever feel alone? Or: if you believe in one personal god who created all things, who breathes life and love into the very flesh and bone of reality, then how can you ever feel alone? If you see the world-- yourself included-- as a roiling, flowing network of process and interconnection, with each place and moment like the strand of a spiderweb, vibrating the whole whenever a single part is plucked, then how can you ever feel alone? Even if you believe in none of these things but hold that human beings, animals, plants, and the entire good earth form a biotic and abiotic whole, how can you ever feel alone? By rights, aloneness shouldn't be part of anyone's worldview.*** It's unfortunate that it is.

So, no: I'm not doing this alone. I'm doing this with you.

But having given that rather abstract answer, let me now turn to the more practical dimension of the question: what about travel companions?

Because I'm a rather pronounced introvert, you might say I'm predisposed to not wanting all that many travel companions, but this isn't to say that I'm a damn hermit, either. For introverts, the right travel companion can make a long walk a true pleasure, but the wrong travel companion can rapidly turn one's heaven into a hell. While having the wrong company along might be considered, by some, a good opportunity to practice virtues like patience and humility, my inner pragmatist tells me that this Walk, a once-in-a-lifetime thing, needn't become a theater of self-abuse. So let's just say that I'm open to the possibility of travel companions, but that I might be a bit... selective.

Then again, who knows? I'm generally of affable demeanor, and I try to see the good in those I meet, so having a companion or two might actually be quite a good thing, something I might thoroughly enjoy. Can people grow to despise each other in the space of thirty miles? ...Nah.

The ideal, I think, would be to have, at most, one or two travel companions who accompany me from their starting Point A to the next religious community at Point B. The people at Point B would welcome all of us with open arms, we'd eat and talk and spend the night together, and then, in the morning, I'd continue on to Point C with new companions (members of the Point B community), while the Point A people would head on back to Point A, perhaps accompanied by another delegation from Point B. The result of these little interactions would be, I hope, the blossoming of a new relationship between and among the connected communities, a chain of interreligious flourishing. That is, after all, the small promise I want kept by every community with which I come in contact.

Does this concept seem sound to you? Feel free to leave comments. And if you want to help Nathan out, please offer him suggestions as to where my very first "dot" should be.

I'll be writing more later on this Walk of mine, but I hope you can see the basic idea behind it now.

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*Mark's been having some major difficulties, as one might imagine, but I wish him well.

**The boldface section of this post is a reedited version of an email I sent to Nathan a while back.

***I realize there's a distinction between "aloneness" and "loneliness," where the first term might or might not have a negative valence whereas the second term is always negative (who wants to feel lonely?). I admit I've conflated the two concepts a bit here, but not by much: when we say "I feel alone," we're usually saying the same thing as, "I feel lonely." So I crave your understanding.


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