Thursday, October 17, 2013

PILGRIMAGE: My Journey to a Deeper Faith in the Land Where Jesus Walked (LYNN AUSTIN)

 
 
Story Description:
 
Baker Publishing Group|November 5, 2013|Trade Paperback|ISBN: 978-0-7642-1118-8
 
We all encounter times when our spirit feels dry, when doubt looms. 
 
The opportunity to tour Israel came at a good time.  For months, my life has been a mindless plodding through necessary routine, as monotonous as an all-night shift on an assembly line.  Life gets that way sometimes, when nothing specific is wrong but the world around us seems drained of color.  Even my weekly worship experiences and daily quiet times with God have felt as dry and stale as last year’s crackers.  I’m ashamed to confess the malaise I’ve felt.  I have been given so much.  Shouldn’t a Christian’s life be an abundant one, as exciting as Christmas morning, as joyful as Easter Sunday? 
 
With gripping honesty, Lynn Austin pens her struggles with spiritual dryness in a season of loss and unwanted change.  Tracing her travels throughout Israel, Austin seamlessly weaves events and insights from the Word…and in doing so finds a renewed passion for prayer and encouragement for her spirit, now full of life and hope. 
 
My Review:
 
Pilgrimage was a soul-searching and deeply moving account of Austin’s trek through Israel.  I found myself deeply invested in her writing and the words gave me a lot of food for thought.  I wish we all had the opportunity to take this same trek through Israel.  What better way to fully understand and aid in the comprehension of what we’ve read in the Bible.  To journey along the same routes that Jesus did for me, would hold special meaning for the rest of my life. 
 
I learned a lot while reading and will endeavour to make immediate changes in my spiritual life and my daily living life.  It’s so true that when times get hectic in our lives, we often have our prayer time on our “to-do” list to be checked off like completing the laundry.  We need to set aside regular, uninterrupted time to talk with God.  How can we really pray and mean what we say when our mouth is saying the words but our minds are thinking about what to cook for dinner.  We have to invest time with God and God alone. 
 
Lynn Austin’s Pilgrimage is a book to be kept and read again and again to remind us the importance of our daily conversations with God.  Thank you, Lynn for sharing your pilgrimage and your most intimate thoughts with us. 
 


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