#112 - It’s All a Part of the Pilgrimage {Reflections}

A single sentence changed how we travel, plan, and live: whatever happens is all part of the pilgrimage. That line guided us from the streets of Tel Aviv to the hills of Galilee, where a thoughtful guide helped us move beyond checklists into the living story of the land. It surfaced again in Tanzania when cascading flight delays upended our plans and exposed how tightly we grip control. And it shaped a quiet birthday at home that became unexpectedly rich once we stopped choreographing every moment.

We unpack what pilgrimage really means—an embodied way of moving through places with open eyes, open hands, and an open heart. Instead of treating setbacks as failures, we practice inclusion: the rain, the closed gate, the missed flight, the unexpected invitation to sit and share apples in a friend’s living room. This is not fatalism; it’s intelligent surrender. We still prepare and show up, but we stop making perfection a precondition for peace. Along the way we talk about spiritual presence, resilience, and how everyday life can become sacred ground when we let go of the script.

If you’re wired to optimize every minute, this conversation offers a gentler way to navigate your day. You’ll hear practical ways to turn detours into meaning, to trade anxious control for attentive presence, and to notice the people, places, and stories that breathe life into ordinary hours. Listen, share with a friend who could use some breathing room, and subscribe so you don’t miss new reflections. If this resonated, leave a review and tell us: what detour are you ready to include as part of your pilgrimage?

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Chapters

• 0:15 Choosing A True Pilgrimage
• 1:12 It’s All Part Of The Pilgrimage
• 2:31 Tanzania Trip And The Delay Lesson
• 4:00 A Birthday Without A Plan
• 6:04 Letting Go And Daily Surrender
• 6:59 Farewell And Community Invitation

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:15

Hey, what is up everybody? Hey, this is Ryan. Welcome to our Reflections podcast. Hey, a couple years ago, me and some friends went to Israel. It was incredible. Went flew over to Israel and did the whole tour with a good friend of ours named Kent Dobson. And you know, we didn't want to have the nickel and dime tour. You can go to Israel and you know, you can do like 1-800 tour Israel or whatever, whatever. And there's there's a hundred different tour guides and groups out there, and they're all on a big bus. And it's like, I did not want that. I didn't want the mainstream tour. I wanted somebody that had lived there, who'd been there, who knew the land, who knew the story, who incorporated some of the Palestinian-Israeli, you know, that kind of the conflict into the into the week. And so Kent was incredible. Kent leads uh guy uh tours over there. And anyway, this is not a plug for Kent and Dobson, but it that's what we got. It was awesome. But here's what happened when we the night we got there, we flew into Tel Aviv and we got there late, night one, and on the bus right, he's giving us an orientation for the week. And he said this one line, I use it all the time. Here's the line. He goes, Hey, just so you never know, whatever happens this week from now until the end, uh, it's all part of the pilgrimage. I was like, Oh, that's so good. It's all part of the pilgrimage. Because we were there on a pilgrimage, not just a tour. A pilgrimage is this is this ancient spiritual practice of walking on a place or in a place. Usually it's sort of a place deemed sacred or holy, uh, and we can unpack what that means later. But it's going to a place, a site, and exploring it with your feet and with your eyes open to experience the smells and the sounds and to read the stories of that land and the place. And so it's a spiritual and physical experience, if you will. And so we weren't going over there just to see sights. We were going over there to see the sights, to read the stories, to allow the spirit to kind of work in us and move in us. And and um, and Kent said, whatever happens, it's all part of the pilgrimage. So if the if the tire goes out or blows on the on the bus, hey, it's all part of the pilgrimage. If it's raining on day two and we're supposed to be, you know, on the Sea of Galilee on the boat, well, it's all part of the pilgrimage. Uh, if on day five, you know, we're going down to Jerusalem and we, you know, we can't get into this certain area, well, it's all part of the pilgrimage. In other words, whatever happens, we're gonna have our hands open and just let it happen because all of it is part of the pilgrimage. Years later, I took some friends to Tanzania. Tanzania is in like uh eastern Africa, sort of the central part of like, you know, uh, central part of Africa and um just south of Kenya. Beautiful area. We have some partner churches over there in uh in Jong Bay region. And when I was going, I told our team, I go, hey everybody, just in case I didn't say this before, whatever happens on this trip, it's all part of the pilgrimage. And I was, you know, I was quoting Kent Dobson. And so I told him, Whatever happens, be flexible. Whatever happens, it's all part of what of the journey of the trip. And so be open. And uh, this is hilarious because the last night we were flying out of Dar Salaam, we were gonna be home in a day and a half or whatever it was, and I was so pumped to get home and see Katie and the kids. My daughter Addison was with me, but and uh otherwise my other kids were at home and Katie was at home. And we we get to Dar Salaam to fly out, and there was like this this weird royal visitation in Kenya, and so our flight out of Nairobi got delayed such that we were delayed and we missed all of our flights that were connecting flights. So we were we were gonna be stuck in Dar Salaam for like four days. And I was like, No, I couldn't believe it. I was so frustrated, and and visibly I was probably upset because we'd been there for I think like eight, nine, ten days already. And my friend Dave, Dave Nordmeyer, who's an awesome guy, he turns to me and goes, Hey Ryan, it's all part of the pilgrimage. And I go, Don't you dare use my wisdom against me, buddy. But uh, he was right, like this is all part of the pilgrimage. And one last story. On my birthday, I I love, I love my birthdays. I don't know why. They're just fun. It's like it's almost like I have this free, like uh, you know, get out get out of jail free card where I can I can do whatever I want on my birthday. I usually I usually take the day off, and me and Katie plan like this really great day. Actually, I plan it. She just goes along with me. And I can do anything I want to. Like I can go to a bookstore and look around for four hours if I want to. And she'd be chill, she'd be cool with that. I can go to a coffee shop and just sit with Katie and read, or I can go to a movie and and invite friends. We can do she's like, whatever you want to do, Ryan, we'll do it. And I love that about my birthday. So it's like this time I can just sort of do whatever I want. And um, which I know sounds extremely selfish, but hey, it's my birthday, not yours. So anyway, so on my last birthday, I just was not feeling I didn't feel inspired to like plan out some ornate birthday uh happening that day. And so I knew that I knew I'm like, I kind of want to go to a bookstore. We had gotten a hotel for that night, but that was kind of it. And I was feeling a bit sad. I'm like, gosh, I have I lost my my mock, you know, my gumption or have I lost my inspiration. Have I gotten so old I can't even plan out a fun birthday for myself anymore? And then I realized, you know what? Maybe this day I'm gonna do something different. I'm just gonna let the day unfold in front of me and see what happens and and where it takes me, as though the whole day is all part of the pilgrimage. Whatever happens, it's all part of the pilgrimage. So that day I like, I did. I like I let go of control and this desire to plan and this need to control and make everything perfect. And I just let the day unfold and saw where it went. And we had a blast. We were at some friends' house. My friend Bob called. He goes, Hey, I've got a bunch of apples for my apple tree. Do you want to come over and get some? I was like, Yeah, let's do that. And while we were there, we were hanging out in their living room just talking and eating apples, which is so funny to say, but and I was like, Oh, we should get going. And they're like, No, we don't have to go anywhere. We can just sit here because this is all part of the pilgrimage. So here's what I want to encourage you today. Maybe the next couple days, if you're like me and you love to control things or plan things or perfect things or get the best or most out of things, or maybe you like to manipulate things in a good way or not. But um, maybe today, because look, we spend a lot of time and energy on trying to do that, and many of the things are just quite frankly beyond our control. And many things we weren't meant to try to control or manipulate or perfect. And maybe sometimes just whatever happens is part of the pilgrimage, part of the journey. Maybe instead of spending all that energy and time on trying to control it, we just let things be. And we just go along for the ride. I'm not saying to become a fatalist, like whatever happens is according to the gods. I'm just saying maybe today or tomorrow, just show up and see where the day takes you and let go of trying to control everything or manipulate things or plan everything or perfect everything. And just let the day be whatever the day seems to want to be. So today, may you see that it is indeed all a part of the pilgrimage. All right, love you guys. Peace. Hey, if you enjoy this show, I'd love to have you share it with some friends. And don't forget you are always welcome to join us in person at Central in Elk River at 8 30, which is our liturgical gathering, or at 10 o'clock, our modern gathering. Or you can check us out online at clcelkriver.org. Peace.