Occasionally [a] Musing

2004 brought twelve more trips to Wonder Voyage; into Ireland, New Orleans, New York City and San Antonio. Our core values were now firmly in place, Cheryl became the part-time office manager, Molly began leading trips, while Shawn spoke with potential clients and prepared for the summer. One of the more notable things to come from 2004 was a deliberate movement by Shawn toward sacramental worship.

Wonder Voyage was heading towards ancient forms of worship, but a specific verse encouraged us to dive into the world of the sacramental wholeheartedly:

This is what the LORD says:

“Stand at the crossroads and look;

ask for the ancient paths,

ask where the good way is, and walk in it,

and you will find rest for your souls.” – Jeremiah 6:16

These were the words Wonder Voyage took into 2004. The year opened with the organization putting on a retreat called Sanctuary in January, with more Sanctuary weekends following throughout the year. The short retreats featured the use of old monastic practices to assist participants in drawing closer to God.

It quickly became obvious to Shawn that we could take elements from Sanctuary and use them on our trips. Pilgrimage was already an “ancient path.” It was and is a spiritual discipline largely forgotten or ignored by our Western culture. The incorporation of ancient disciplines (also often neglected) fit well into the summer voyages. Soon, we were making room for times of silence and reflection in our schedules. We began looking for places where we could journey with Christ through the Stations of the Cross. We read scripture aloud to our groups in Lectio Divina. We reached out to God through these ancient paths in hopes of encountering him and we were not disappointed. Soon, hundreds of students would be following long departed Christians on well-worn roads in hopes of meeting God.

Though they often don’t know it, our pilgrims are becoming part of a tradition that we often take for granted in or modern world. It is the history of men and women who followed Christ and met him on the road and they were forever changed. It is our constant prayer as we journey: to walk where the good way is.

Mike Flickinger has been leading Wonder Voyage trips for four years and works full-time as Shawn’s administrative assistant.  He has been commissioned to write this series of articles documenting the history of our organization. This articles covers 2004, the fifth year of Wonder Voyage.