Pilgrimage Aotearoa / Haerenga Tapu Aotearoa
We might associate pilgrimages with overseas locations, often being a multi-day physical walk covering long distances – such as the famous Camino in Spain or St Cuthbert’s Way in England. Or even a day walking a ‘pilgrimage’ in central London in the footsteps of John Wesley, comprehending something of the context of his life and ministry.
Might we miss the opportunities for pilgrimage within our own Aotearoa, unexpected gems? Admittedly there are not many multi-day walking pilgrimage routes in Aotearoa New Zealand (excluding national park hiking tracks). But there are many sites that the warrant a stop while touring by road, or knitting together a series of visits while driving in a region. There are even possibilities of urban day-walk pilgrimages in our major cities.
To aid this discovery, Pilgrimage Aotearoa / Haerenga Tapu Aotearoa offers readers a unique guide to 100 sites in Aotearoa New Zealand, blending history, culture and spirituality. It invites you on an inspiring journey of reflection and discovery, uncovering rich stories that make these places significant to our country’s identity and soul.
The authors, Jenny Boyack and John Hornblow, write from an outworking of their own learnings and insights from undertaking their own pilgrimages, and leading groups on pilgrimages. The seedbed in preparing this book is their exploration of the beauty and spirituality of our country and the special places, often unnoticed, that are rich in spirituality as well as history.
There is truly an incarnational spirituality engaged with the earliest and enduring Christian presence in the country, while others tell contemporary stories. Some sites record terrible injustice and suffering and are a cause for remorse and repentance. Others are inspiring and heart-warming and reflect foundational values of respect, justice, peace and restoration.
The underlying question of the book invites is to consider how God works through the places and the people associated with the site, past and present.
Each entry tells a little of the story, the people, directions to find the site, and a short reflection. There are beautiful photographs and poems, prayers and artwork contributed by locals or people earthed in the story of the site.
More than a simple travel guide, the touchstones add breadth to the work whether you are visiting the site, or reading as an ‘armchair pilgrim’ remembering a previous visit, or being introduced to a site for the first time.
I found myself doing just this: visiting a site for the first time, reading about a site I have visited previously and appreciating a new (re)connection, or pondering a site previously unknown to me and making a note to visit one day. It is a treat to reflect through the words and photos on familiar sites such as Rangihou/Marsden’s Cross and the range of mission stations in the far north, and to read of places I knew of but have not yet visited myself.
The book is available from the publisher website www.philipgarsidebooks.com or email bookspgpl@gmail.com; from bookshops; and on the Pilgrimage NZ website www.pilgrimagenz.nz
RRP $49 (plus p&p if any).