The Editor,
As the season for international travel and religious tourism approaches, I find myself reflecting on a practice we often take for granted as a spiritual “gold standard”: the long-distance pilgrimage. Every year, thousands of believers from our community spend significant portions of their life savings to travel to distant lands in search of a divine encounter. While I respect the tradition, I wish to offer a humble submission: perhaps the Divine we seek across oceans is actually closer than we think.
My skepticism toward these grueling journeys is rooted in my Christian faith, which suggests that God is not a localized entity bound to specific coordinates. In the New Testament, we see a radical departure from the idea that certain buildings or mountains hold a monopoly on the Holy Spirit.
St. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit…?” If we believe this, then the “Holy of Holies” is not a ruin in a desert or a gold-plated altar in Europe; it is the very heart of the believer.
Furthermore, Jesus Himself settled the debate regarding sacred geography during His conversation with the woman at the well. When she asked which mountain was the correct place for worship, He replied, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). This tells me that the “signal” to the Creator is no stronger in Jerusalem or Rome than it is in a quiet room right here in our own city.
Beyond the theology, I also consider the practical stewardship of our lives. When we spend thousands of dollars on airfare and hotels to “find God,” do we risk ignoring the Christ who said He is found in the “least of these” (Matthew 25:40)? Perhaps that money and energy would be better spent serving the hungry and the marginalized in our own backyard, rather than chasing a spiritual high in a foreign land.
I believe it is time we stop measuring our devotion by our frequent flyer miles. If we are traveling thousands of miles to find a God who promised to be with us always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20), we may be looking for someone who is already standing right behind us.
Yiurs Sincerely,
John Mandagra
