His annual pilgrimage to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area started 20 years ago when he was in his mid-50’s. Every year since, Parker J. Palmer — author, columnist, Quaker elder, activist and founder the Center for Courage and Renewal  — has found his way back to the BWCA, summer after summer. More than just a vacation, his trips to our unique region of NE Minnesota have become a time of spiritual renewal.

Life can be very fast, but you don’t want to rush this one. Take a deep breath, and then another.  Now…enjoy a quiet moment to read and reflect on his poignant, beautifully-written essay – A Wilderness Pilgrimage: Where We Go When We Die published at www.onbeing.org. You’ll be glad you did.

“It’s not tranquility alone that makes this wilderness a place of healing for me. It’s the patient, resourceful, resilient way nature heals itself, showing me what it takes to heal my own wounds so I can be in the world as a healer. Watching wilderness overcome devastation has helped me see how suffering can serve as a seedbed for renewal. Even more, it has offered reassurance that in the great cycle of life and death, new life always gets the last word.”