The Sacred Journey-Book Review

Book Review

The Sacred Journey by Charles Foster

This book by Charles Foster is part of a series on Ancient Practices put together by Phyllis Tickle. In this book, Foster examines the nature of a pilgrimage and the negative attitude towards pilgrimage in Christendom today. Foster points out that Jesus himself was fond of those who were wanders and that our faith is expressed in a journey. Without specifically defining or laying out the structure of a pilgrimage, Foster examines the Biblical and historical aspects of a pilgrimage while describing the joys and benefits of a pilgrimage. Pilgrimages are hard to define and are experienced internally and externally, with the destination having less significance than the journey.

I found this book to be an easy and enjoyable read. I found Foster’s examples, stories and metaphors to be very helpful. I appreciated that Foster points out that we are all wanderers and on a journey and found his use of Scripture to be accurate and helpful. Foster engaged with a deeper yearning and reality in my own life faith journey in this book. Perhaps I have been on a pilgrimage more often that I realized. I have a tendency at times to need to hike or travel, because of some yearning in my soul. I suspect this desire is connected to much of what Foster talks about.  The book probably could have been much shorter and made the same points and conveyed the same information in a stronger way. At times, it was hard to follow the organization of the book, yet I still found the book to be very appealing and would recommend it to others, especially those interested in spiritual disciplines.

Rev. Marcus J Carlson

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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