From a blissful and innocent childhood years in Lahaina, Maui during World War II to the Vietnam War and to terminal patients in healthcare settings, the author presents an autobiographical pilgrimage. The fear of his own death in Vietnam and the befriending of a catatonic female patient in a psychiatric institution became the catalyst for his psychological, emotional and spiritual growth. The experiential knowledge enabled him to work in the healthcare field as a Hospital Chaplain. With his knowledge of the dynamics of critically ill and terminal patients, doctor and patient protocol, and medical bio-ethics, he was able to avoid an unnecessary open heart surgery during a vacation trip to Memphis. His pilgrimage continues through his senior years to redeem the God given time he is privileged to enjoy and acknowledge that life is worthwhile at every age. He continues to sing with the Psalmist, "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24 (NIV)

The author shares testimony from his pilgrimage through life and relates memories of important people and events that helped shape his sense of faith. He reflects on his time in the church, which includes sixty-two years in ministry and fifty-five years in pastorate. He also shares the trials he went through and their valuable lessons and reflects on what he feels to be some faulty theology the church has embraced. The author looks back on his trials and tribulations and thanks God for his beautiful life through his parents, wife, and children.

"With the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, the Gulf Coast & other top spots in 10 states"--Cover.

Nationalistic meccas, shrines to popular culture, and sacred traditions for the world's religions from Animism to Zoroastrianism are all examined in two accessible and comprehensive volumes. Pilgrimage is a comprehensive compendium of the basic facts on Pilgrimage from ancient times to the 21st century. Illustrated with maps and photographs that enrich the reader's journey, this authoritative volume explores sites, people, activities, rites, terminology, and other matters related to pilgrimage such as economics, tourism, and disease. Encompassing all major and minor world religions, from ancient cults to modern faiths, this work covers both religious and secular pilgrimage sites. Compiled by experts who have authored numerous books on pilgrimage and are pilgrims in their own right, the entries will appeal to students, scholars, and general readers.

Brad Mathias thought everything in his family was fine. A busy, contented dad, he had vaguely noticed that Bethany, his middle child, had become withdrawn and moody, but he assumed it was part of being a "teen" and didn't look any deeper. Until the night God spoke clearly to Brad and his wife: Ask her to reveal what she has hidden. They did--and learned the secret Bethany had been carrying, one that rocked their family to the core. In a desperate attempt to reach their daughter and to reconnect as a family, Brad and his wife piled everyone into the car and embarked on a wild, crazy, seven-thousand-mile, what-are-we-thinking trip across the country. As they drove, they realized how far apart they'd drifted, found unexpected blessings along the way--and journeyed together from pain and loss to recovery and redemption. In this book, Brad shares stories from the road about God's grace, gives practical tips on what he learned about reconnecting as a family, invites you to consider your own epic journey as a mother or father, and calls you to trust wholeheartedly in the amazing love God has for your kids.

Using Jungian archetypal theory, the authors explore the phenomenon of pilgrimage, as well as various types of pilgrimages, and suggest a way of understanding their meaning and variety.

Lying in a hospital bed, José P. Ramirez, Jr. (b. 1948) almost lost everything because of a misunderstood disease. When the health department doctor gave him the Handbook for Persons with Leprosy, Ramirez learned his fate. Such a diagnosis in 1968 meant exile and hospitalization in the only leprosarium in the continental United States—Carville, Louisiana, 750 miles from his home in Laredo, Texas. In Squint: My Journey with Leprosy, Ramirez recalls being taken from his family in a hearse and thrown into a world filled with fear. He and his loved ones struggled against the stigma associated with the term “leper” and against beliefs that the disease was a punishment from God, that his illness was highly communicable, and that persons with Hansen's disease had to be banished from their communities. His disease not only meant separation from the girlfriend who would later become his wife, but also a derailment of all life's goals. In his struggle Ramirez overcame barriers both real and imagined and eventually became an international advocate on behalf of persons with disabilities. In Squint, titled for the sliver of a window through which persons with leprosy in medieval times were allowed to view Mass but not participate, Ramirez tells a story of love and perseverance over incredible odds.

Pilgrimage places anthropological works on a privileged platform for religious studies. The origin of built environment sets apart a platform for worship. It contains the dichotomy of life and death, striving towards the spirit of a dead that may or may not be religious. It is a soul searching process, a coming to terms with hopes and disillusions. Human situations in the flow of globalised urban areas draw together primal human search and economic considerations. The sacred and the profane, the belief in miracles and the management of both, necessitate fresh search of urban pilgrimage.