The image of The Pilgrim and its background is a woodcut illustration for an edition of The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyon (1628-88) of the village Elstow in England.

Pilgrim,
Pilgrimage,
Tree,
River,
Mountains,
Castle,
Conclusion






The Pilgrim:

The human figure in the logo represents everyone. It is Everyman. It is you. It is me. It is all of us insofar as each of us can be said to be traveling the road of life. We travel singly or in groups towards the eventual completion of our lives.

Our journey inevitably ends in our death. Death remains a mystery to us. But it remains our common end. As we journey through life we discuss among ourselves, what death is and what the meaning of our lives might be. We talk about what is likely to happen to us afterwards. And we also talk about the relationship that may or may not exist between the way we conduct ourselves on our journey and whether or not it would have any impact on our existence after death. We worry about those things. What it could mean for us Pilgrims.




The Pilgrimage: 

A Pilgrimage is a journey. The Latin root of the word suggests 'a wandering journey'. Historically, during the Middle Ages when the Pilgrimage was a major social expereince, it meant a chosen spiritual journey (although sometimes imposed as penance for sins) towards a holy goal. The word ‘holy’ means ‘set part’. The goal of the Pilgrimage had various aspects. Socially it was a dangerous undertaking because roaming bands of robbers preyed on pilgrim. Concretely it was a journey away from home to very specific place like the distant tomb of a saint or a city of holy shrines like Rome or Jerusalem. Personally and spiritually it was supposed to be an internal journey into the next world, the world of spiritual meaning, the world of God. The Pilgrim’s internal purpose was to experience something bigger than himself - and hopefully to be internally changed by it. The attainment of that goal marked a spiritual achievement in the life of the individual Pilgrim.

During the Middle Ages the Pilgrimage was a social institution. Being a Pilgrim was a temporary but publicly recognized state; sometimes it was one forced upon the person as a punishment; sometimes it was one chosen by an individual for personal religious reasons. An individual person might live as a Pilgrim for many years as a personal choice or only as long as it was necessary to fulfill his penance for his public sins.

During the actual Pilgrimage the individual Pilgrims talked with others, enjoyed some of their companions, put up with others. Like any long journey, a Pilgrimage could be lonely. People had time to think. The long miles on foot provide some opportunity to talk with others, sometimes seriously, sometimes lightheartedly. But those same long miles also provided extensive opportunities for self-reflection. The conditions of travel in the Middle Ages meant that there were many opportunities to reach out to help fellow pilgrims. There were stopping places. There were kind people. And, of course, there were also the rude ones. the Pilgrimage offers the pilgrim a time to reflect on his state in life and an opportunity to be helpful to others.

Like the Medieval Pilgrims, those who decide to devote time to the service of the sick in The Pilgrim Project do so as a journey they take in life.. Some remain in service for many years - like Joan who did the shopping for a woman with MS for 36 years, or Carol, who provided superb service to more than 50 people during her time with Pilgrim. For some it is a very short journey, like Pauline who provided service to one person for only two days and did no more. Giving service in the context of Pilgrim is a personal choice, and one that is often made for very personal reasons. 

The Pilgrims of the Middle Ages had to wear a distinctive costume so they could be identified. That is, being a Pilgrim has an element of public identity to it. It is a public role that one assumes.

The medieval Pilgrim wore a distinctive hat with a broad brim, a cloak, and high boots - a practical outfit for a long journey on foot. They also carried a staff to help them walking the road, and as a defensive weapon against those who might try to harm them. Being a Pilgrim was not easy; people needed protection from the elements, and protection from other people. For those for whom being a Pilgrim was a personal choice, they needed to be identified as Pilgrims because it give them a particular social position. And for those, whose presence on a Pilgrimage was a matter of penance, part of the punishment was public recognition. The formal Pilgrim, in addition to having to wear a formal costume, could do no business, could not remain with his family, could not engage in any sexual activity, and had to leave his local environment. Distinction of Pilgrims.




The Tree:

Behind the Pilgrim is a tree. It is the Tree of Life of the Creation Story. It suggests the trees in the Garden of Eden. It reminds us of the tree whose fruit Adam and Eve were not supposed to eat; it also reminds us of the Tree of Life, the fruit of which they were explicitly prevented from eating by being evicted from Eden. It also suggests an image of everyman life, with all of its branches and leaves, that is, it symbolizes everyperson's many lines of action during their life and the many good and bad fruits of those actions, in short, it is a symbol of the individual man's life. 

This tree is almost bare of leaves. The fruits of the man's life are now nearly all past history. Without his living attention, the fruits of those past interests have died away and nearly all fallen off. Looked at from a slightly different perspective, the leaves are the days of a human life, and they are almost gone for this Pilgrim. The Pilgrim’s life is coming to an end.

Most volunteers do not think of this sort of work until they are well into their maturity and they become aware of the transitory character of human life. (Although younger peresons have been joining Pilgrim for the last few years.) The work of The Pilgrim Project is with people nearing the end of their lives. It is a very special time of life, one that has its own needs. It is not everyone who is comfortable responding to people who are living their final days.

The people who volunteer for The Pilgrim Project are individuals who have the maturity to face this terminal phase of life with peace and equanimity themselves. They are often persons who have themselves passed through considerable trials and tribulations and come out the other end stronger for it.

They are individuals who are able to see the entire tree of life and appreciate it in its entirety, seeing in the last days of a life the entire lifetime that has proceeded it. It is a special gift to be able to develop such a perspective.




The River:

In front of the Pilgrim is the river. A river that separates this world from the next is a classical symbol of death, variously named: the River Styx, the River Jordan, and the River Nile have served in that role.

The Pilgrim is walking along his road, that is, living his life. But he realizes that he has to eventually cross the river; he has to die. The river is now right in front of him, in his immediate future, within his sight. Human beings must die. Each of us must die. There is no choice in the matter; everyone has to cross the River. A Pilgrim's River.




Mountains:

On the other side of the river are the mountains. Traditionally, it is generally agreed that the actual character of the next life is unknown to people on earth. This unknowing is symbolized by a range of mountains. The range hides the next word from the inhabitants of this world. St. Paul says we cannot imagine what heaven is really like. The mountains symbolize the screen between us and the knowledge and experience of the next world. Living with that mystery is an integral part of the experience of our human life. A Pilgrim's Mountain




Castle In The Sky:

Floating above the mountains is the Golden Castle (a kind of imaginary skyline of heaven) where the King (God) awaits those whom he has summoned to himself, to his Court in the medieval imagination. In the mind of John Bunyan, in heaven there is room for everyone; it is the land of ‘many mansions’; it is the eternal domain of a loving Father; it is a place of complete satisfaction of the deepest needs of the human heart and mind. Pilgrim & His Castle




Conclusive Metaphor:

So, the logo of The Pilgrim Project is an image of each of us who has their mind set upon being a Pilgrim, walking the road of Life itself. The days of our future are relatively few. Each of us must cross the River; we must die. But, for many of us, to die is to proceed to the next level of existence, Heaven.

John Bunyan certainly believed in an afterlife, as a good Protestant of the Quietist persuasion; but John Bunyan might well have worried about the quality of afterlife.

As a Quebec community organiation Pilgrim serve a religiously pluralistic community. It a public institution formally registered in Québec, Pilgrim does not identify itself with any religious, political or otherwise partisan position. Apart from any personal religious conviction, we at The Pilgrim Project have come to realize that it is better to die with encouraging hope than with stoical despair. As has been famously argued: even if it is not true, it is still better to have the belief and the hope and live and die by it than not to have any belief; to have no hope and to die in despair. In general, we at The Pilgrim Project individually believe in the value of hope in life eternal.