John 3:1–17

On October 26, 2025, nineteen Buddhist monks left Fort Worth, Texas, headed for Washington, D.C., embarking on a 2,000-mile journey on foot. Their “Walk for Peace” was an effort to cultivate mindfulness and compassion in a hurting world. By the time they completed their 108-day pilgrimage in the nation’s capital on February 10, many of us had been deeply moved by their witness.

In Faith & Innovation, we have been exploring pilgrimage as a spiritual practice. In the midst of all the demands and crises that seem to surround us, pilgrimage can feel frivolous or indulgent. Who has time to step away? And yet, for these monks, pilgrimage was their response to the chaos and pain of the world.

The practice of pilgrimage requires submitting to a disruption of the status quo. It removes us from the patterns and practices that keep us stuck—doing the same things, making the same mistakes, even enabling us to avoid God’s call on our lives. Not only did the monks disrupt their own routines, they pierced the consciousness of every neighborhood and city they walked through. Their steady, embodied presence became an invitation.

In January, the monks shared a blog post explaining their hope:

“Our walking itself cannot create peace. But when someone encounters us — whether by the roadside, online, or through a friend — when our message touches something deep within them, when it awakens the peace that has always lived quietly in their own heart — something sacred begins to unfold…

That person carries something forward they didn’t have before, or perhaps something they had forgotten was there. They become more mindful in their daily life — more present with each breath, more aware of each moment. They speak a little more gently to their child. They listen more patiently to their partner. They extend kindness to a stranger who needed it desperately…

One step becomes two. Two become a thousand. A thousand become countless. And slowly, gently, persistently — not through grand gestures but through ten thousand small acts of love — we can help make the world more peaceful.

This is our hope. This is our offering. This is why we walk.”

Pilgrimage begins in earnest when we allow the God-given longings deep inside us to nudge us across a threshold into new territory. The threshold disorients us—and perhaps even unsettles those around us—just enough for us to be reoriented to God’s presence, call, and work in our lives.

In today’s reading from John 3:1–17, we see the religious leader Nicodemus crossing a threshold toward Jesus. Perhaps he noticed the disruption Jesus caused at the temple in the chapter before. Or maybe there was a longing stirring in his soul—something awakened by Jesus that his religious work could not satisfy.

I imagine that as he humbly approached Jesus in the dark of night, he was invited to cross a threshold of acknowledgment: perhaps he did not understand things as well as he thought he did. Perhaps that step began a journey of seeking answers beyond the inherited spaces and familiar rhythms that had shaped his life and ministry.

This passage does not neatly wrap up Nicodemus’ story. Instead, we see his mind and heart being stretched by his conversation with Jesus. Jesus challenges what he thinks he understands about life and invites him into something deeper—into eternal life that flows from the love of God.

Jesus is still inviting us across thresholds. He still calls us to release what we think we know, to step beyond what is familiar, and to follow Him into the life that is truly life.

성찰 질문:

What threshold in my life do I sense God inviting me to cross?
What fears make it hard to take that first step?
What would it mean to trust God with what I cannot control?

Lenten Practice:

Read about the Racial Justice Pilgrimage folks in the TWK recently took to cross the threshold into a journey of disrupting and dismantling racism: https://twkumc.org/disrupting-and-dismantling-racism-and-discrimination/selma-to-montgomery-the-second-annual-racial-healing-racial-justice-pilgrimage-2/

Take some time this week to follow the example of the monks on a smaller scale and walk your prayer. Set an intention and walk for 20 minutes in silence and allow God to speak to what’s on your heart.