Pilgrim
Heart:
The Inner
Journey Home
Pilgrim
Heart
The
Inner Journey Home
By
Sarah York
ISBN:
0-7879-5695-3W01, Hardcover $18.95, Publication
Date: Now, Jossey-Bass, 208 pages
Also
in Spanish ISBN 84-666-1041-3 Hardcover 11.99 Euro, Vergara Groupo ,
Barcelona Spain
"Where do you come from?” a
Nepali man asked Sarah York during a trek up a trail high in the Himalayan
Mountains. Such a simple question, yet it took on larger meanings as she
pondered pilgrimage and the yearning for home.
Gazing at Himalayan peaks or wandering the
shores of Scotland’s Iona Island makes for compelling travel experiences. Yet
the adventure of such journeys is not just about travel, it is about seeking
greater spiritual depth. In her down-to-earth and engaging new book, Pilgrim
Heart, Sarah York examines the many dimensions of soul journeys: from
forming an intention, to preparing to go, to leave-taking, and then to
returning. As her experiences and insights reveal, such journey-making is not
just a movement through time and space. It demands a willingness to face the
strange and disorienting in order to change and grow. And finding home requires
an appreciation for one of the greatest paradoxes: we leave, letting go of the
security of our physical homes in order to open ourselves to our spirit’s home.
Pilgrimage allows us to traverse the inner reaches of our hearts and find that
feeling of belonging we yearn for. Throughout her book Sarah York shows us, to
be a pilgrim means to have a heart open to the struggle of being human and to
allow that struggle to change us, no matter where our lives take us.
Publishers Weekly: 
starred review
From Publishers Weekly (starred review), April 23, 2001:
“Spiritual readers of all stripes will
enjoy this meditation on the meaning of home and journey. York, a Unitarian
Universalist minister, writes that all seekers are restless for spiritual
homes, and the first step in finding them is to embark on a journey. York tells
the story of her own journey, which includes a literal trek through Thailand
and Nepal, as well as a metaphorical journey toward her own soul. York returns
from her spiritual and physical travels feeling, quite simply, more "at
home at home"; her audience will no doubt feel that way, too, after
reading this lovely book.”
Praise for this book:
From the Foreword by Thomas Moore:
Sarah York’s manuscript
arrived at a good time for me. I read every word eagerly and appreciatively.
It’s a wise and honest book, in style simple and in substance complex—just what
I prefer. It’s full of heart, and so its title is appropriate, and yet its
intelligence, so smooth and understated, raises it above most books on similar
themes.
This book is a journey.
I suggest you read it as if you’re just embarking on a trip to a foreign
land—with an open heart and an uncluttered mind. Then I recommend taking a
journey, if only to the other side of town, but to a place of special meaning
and importance. As Sarah York says, not all journeys are pilgrimages. Like her
and me, you may not be inclined to keep a journal, but you can take time to
reflect and talk about your experiences. This trip, great or small, will be a
microcosm, a picture of your life. It will be a holy act, even if the goal of
your journey is a circus or a beach. In the language I tend to use, it will be
a way of caring for your soul. It will be full of mysteries, even if on the
surface it appears to be only ordinary. Learn from this book how to carry out
such a journey with imagination, memory, and deep attention.
From other authors:
"In her invigorating new book,
Sarah York tutors us in the spiritual arts of long looking and deep
listening. She demonstrates the sturdy value of an open and receptive
heart -- especially in the face of the unfamiliar and the unexpected. This
is a very welcome addition to the pilgrimage genre."-- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Media
Editors, Spirituality & Health Co-authors, Spiritual
Literacy and Spiritual Rx
“Gentle practical and wise—what a
wonderful invitation to the spiritual journey.”
--Forrest Church, author, Lifecraft: The Art of Meaning in the Everyday
“Pilgrimage: the very word beckons to
our deep selves with scented promises of blessed renewal. Sarah York’s keen
exploration of the art of pilgrimage offers a truthful and finely crafted map
to meaning that anyone contemplating a pilgrimage will find illuminating.” --Jennifer Louden, author, The Woman’s Retreat
Book, and The Comfort Queen’s Guide to Life
Corazón
Peregrino
