“The more holdings we have on earth, the more likely we are to forget that we’re citizens of another world, not this one, and that our inheritance lies there, not here. Pilgrims are unattached. They are travelers, not settlers, who are acutely aware that excessive things will distract and burden them. Material things are valuable to pilgrims, but only as they facilitate their missions…
The slaves in early America understood the pilgrim mentality. Without possessions, without rights, they lived for another world, a better one. This central theme permeated their spirituals. They sang, “I am a poor wayfarin’ stranger, a travelin’ far from home,” and “Soon I will be done with the troubles of the world, I’m goin’ home to live with God.”
Randy Alcorn in Money, Possessions, and Eternity (Carol Stream: Tyndale, 2003) 165-166.
My daughter sang “poor wayfarin’ stranger” at a recital this past weekend. The lyrics reminded me of the pilgrim mentality. Let’s embrace this way of thinking. It shapes how we live, give, serve, and love. Let’s abandon the settler mentality and bless people on the journey of life as pilgrims and fellow travelers en route home to live with God.