ALABAMA PILGRIMAGE DATES IN 2007

• March 4th, 2007 --  42nd Anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Al.    For on going information  for 2006, contact Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, Selma, Al. Also, see Blog Pictures from Selma with Anglican Archbishop Ndungane of South Africa with Episcopal Bishop Andrus of Alabama as well as other scenes from Selma in 2005.
• August 11th, 2007  --  Annual pilgrimage to Hayneville, Al. in honor of Jonathan Daniels and the twelve other civil rights martyr's of Alabama.  Pilgrimage begins on the town square at 11:00am with procession to the jail, the Cash Grocery Store, the VMI momument and the County Court House.  For more information and pictures of all Alabama martyr's, go to www.pilgrimage4peace.com

PLACES OF SECRET PRAYER IN ALABAMA

Just as Alabama has become known for its famous Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, so might Alabama come to be known and appreciated for its own spiritual trail of Places of  Secret Prayer. The concept of " Places of Secret Prayer" comes from Tom Davies' book, Landscapes of Glory: And English Pilgrimage. He writes that there are hundreds and perhaps thousands of Places of Secret Prayer just waiting to be discovered by people of faith. So, in 2004, I invited 30 religious leaders in Alabama to share their most meaningful spiritual places in the state of Alabama. From their list came twelve (12) sites of pilgrimage in Alabama. I visited each of the twelve sites during  the summer of 2004 and wrote about each in a book recently published by Samford Univ. with support from a Lilly Endowment grant. Excerpts can be found on the web page: www.samford.edu/groups/rcpe/pilgrimage  Copies of the book can be purchased through www.episcobooks.com

This blog is designed for those interested in spiritual pilgrimage, either in the United States or elsewhere in the world. Spiritual pilgrimage is part of the DNA of every person of faith.  Thomas Merton once wrote, "Mere sitting at home and meditating on the divine presence is not enough for our time..."  Father Brad Milunksi of the Franciscan Pilgrimage Project says that pilgrimage is "an antidote to the heresy of being alone." Pilgrimage has been lableled as "praying with our feet".  Spiritual travel or wandering is the essence of pilgrimage.

So, this blog is one of the few places dedicated to sharing spiritual pilgrimage experiences with others. This blog also offers some new pilgrimage prayers I have written as well as some prayers from other sources. Your pilgrimage prayers are also invited for what is hoped to develop into a PILGRIM'S PRAYER BOOK.  Pictures from historic places such as Jerusalem, Assisi, Rome and Canterbury, selected Native American sites as well as twelve sites of spiritual pilgrimage in Alabama are already located on this site. Pictures of pilgrims walking to sacred sites are welcomed to add to those seen below.

Bill King