"Guelph: A Spiritual Pilgrimage"

In 2010, I was blessed to be able to spend a week with the Iona Community on the island of Iona in the inner Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland, part of a course in Worship that I was taking at Emmanuel College. To say that this week was life changing is a cliche, but it was. Inspired by the pilgrimage that takes place on Iona on Tuesdays, as a course assignment, I created a pilgrimage located in the City of Guelph, my hometown at the time. The pilgrimage begins at the confluence of the Speed and Eramosa rivers and continues all the way to the Stations of the Cosmos at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre, with reflection spots at places of historical, spiritual or religious interest along the way. I have since created similar experiences at Five Oaks Retreat Centre in Paris, Ontario and in Mount Forest, Ontario.

Some notes from the introduction:

"It is quite possible that the city of Guelph is a thin place. Founded by Scottish poet, traveller and teller of tales, John Galt, the city continues to hold special appeal for artists of all sorts – writers, poets, painters, musicians – and there is an inordinate number of healing practitioners to be found. Built around the confluence of two rivers, the city has taken to heart a spirit of unity and diversity, and is home to many different faith groups. The places visited in this pilgrimage each bear significance to matters of the spirit, historically and in the present. This pilgrimage is not a tour, it is a communal act of worship, meant to be engaged in with intention and reverence. . . "