3000 Miles to Jesus

by Lisa Deam, Jon M. Sweeney (Foreword)

Propelled by a desire for the sacred, spiritual seekers of the Middle Ages were masters of pilgrimage, dedicated to their journeys of religious devotion. Their epic voyages took them across continents and treacherous mountain passages, and were undertaken with a keen awareness of the possible perils of the journey. Still, by faith, they went on pilgrimage in hopes of tracing the steps of Jesus in the holy city of Jerusalem.

In 3000 Miles to Jesus Lisa Deam invites us to embrace the adventure of spiritual pilgrimage in our everyday lives. Bringing alive the rich stories of medieval pilgrims, she offers an intimate look at these quests for the sacred, helping us draw rich application for our walks of faith today. To take this road, we won't have to give up flushing toilets, warm beds, or cell phones. But we are invited to travel the rugged terrain of faith: journeying in risk and adventure through unfamiliar territory, across the unknown seas of the spiritual life, meeting life's difficult passages of loss, accompanied by the temptation to turn back even as we march on. In meeting challenges in the wise company of the ancient pilgrims, we learn hope and resolve as we walk a wild and wonderful way to a city that shimmers beyond a horizon we cannot yet see. We are headed for the Jerusalem of our hearts.

When we understand the risks taken and the courage and conviction driving the medieval pilgrim, a bigger picture of a lifelong journey of faith comes into view. We are opened up to the sacred world before us in new and unexpected ways.

214 pages, Paperback

Published February 2, 2021

About the author

I'm a writer and speaker who loves showing how medieval spirituality can guide our walk of faith today.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is part history, part guidebook for the spiritual life, and Lisa Deam has combined the two in a way that is accessible for even the nominal spiritual seeker. Following the journeys of three medieval saints who pilgrimaged to Jerusalem, Deam applies their experiences to those of the modern pilgrim, even ones who have not left their homes and families for a trip to the Holy Land. We modern saints have much to learn from our spiritual ancestors, and Deam presents the historical journeys in an accessible way for those of us who might be new to the idea of pilgrimage, or the study of saints.

As I read, I began thinking of Jerusalem in a new way, especially as it appears in the Bible--not as simply an actual physical place but as a metaphor of the end goal of the Christian life. A place in the spiritual kingdom, the dwelling place of God at the end of all things.

Deam reminds us that we do not have to go on an epic journey of faith like these pilgrims did in order to experience spiritual renewal: "A true pilgrim travels nowhere more distant than the landscape of her own faith."

3,000 Miles to Jesus: Pilgrimage as a Way of Life for Spiritual Seekers is a helpful tool in the hands of those who might be wandering in their faith or feeling a bit lost on their journey.

*I received an advance copy of the book from the publisher. Review reflects my honest opinion.

[Traci Rhoades · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so enjoyed this book! As a newbie to church history, it was full of knowledge. One can't help but put herself in the shoes of the pilgrims Deam writes about. This gentle urging to consider pilgrimage reminds us all what our time on earth should be about, walking with Jesus until he takes us home.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Lisa Deam's beautiful book, the reader is invited to journey with three pilgrims making their journeys to Jerusalem. As she recounts the trials and the gifts of these pilgrimages, Deam shares wisdom that will help every spiritual seeker (whether traveling or only journeying within) to seek a closer connection to Jesus. I savored every word of this book and am allowing the insights within to steep in my heart. The artwork in the book is captivating, too. Highly recommend.

[Tracy Balzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am loving Lisa's deep dive into the ways our spiritual foremothers and forefathers sought the Lord through pilgrimage -- a sacrificial, self-emptying enterprise that made them more open to the transforming work God wanted to do in them. We follow in their footsteps, through Lisa's book, which is especially appreciated in these days when we are physically locked down and unable to take a physical pilgrimage. I love being invited to walk along, virtually, and learn and be inspired with these great saints of the past. Lisa's writing and research is a gift to us all!

[Bethany Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This lovely book is such a wonderful companion on this pilgrimage of life! I especially found it soul-nurturing during this Covid season where us who frequently travel find ourselves indefinitely homebound. I highly recommend this book for all who are seeking some soul-care and spiritual direction.

[Jim Byrne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, both in words and artwork. A contemplative look at how the pilgrimages of representative Christians from the middle ages speaks to seeking and finding Jesus Christ for us today.

[Chloe Flanagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

“We’re heading to a distant shore that, when we arrive, will witness the full flowering of a soul made perfect in Christ. But—we’re not there yet.” (3000 Miles to Jesus, Chapter 7)

Being followers of Christ often means being acutely aware that “we’re not there yet.” We certainly haven’t achieved perfection or complete closeness with Christ. Yet the desire for these things compels us in our faith walk. In this spiritual restlessness, we are linked to our Christian forbearers who, centuries ago, undertook perilous pilgrimages to holy sites such as Jerusalem for the sake of their faith.

In 3000 Miles to Jesus, Lisa Deam brings the journeys of several historical pilgrims to vibrant and sympathetic life, sharing fascinating details about not only their pious motivations, but also their very fallible responses to the physical and psychological dangers they faced along the way. Interwoven with the accounts of these venerable travelers are profound yet practical parallels to the spiritual paths Christians of all time periods must traverse. For the contemporary pilgrim, these parallels provide a catalyst for deep introspection as well as encouragement and hope.

3000 Miles to Jesus is a thoughtful, enlightening book that is certain to inspire and challenge readers.

[Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely book about Medieval Pilgrims and what we can learn from them for our own modern Spiritual journeys. Very engaging and thoughtful (and thought provoking). Highly recommended.

[Catherine Ristola]

I enjoyed this book, the historical personages the author uses to physically embody the spiritual concept of pilgrimage are engaging and vivid. Reading this has made me examine my private devotional time as having a larger arc and purpose (as opposed to just one day at a time) and to consider adding an intentional pilgrimage aspect to any trips (of any nature) I take in the future. I am particularly interested in worship always being in community with others and therefore pilgrimage being in the company of others, even though I had (and I think many of us have) a romanticized image of going on it alone.

[James Laurence · Rating 5 out of 5]

What might it mean to view this life as a pilgrimage? Even in these times when travel is difficult, life is still a journey, as many have pointed out. But the Christian life is not just a journey, it is a pilgrimage. We are pilgrims on our way to “the city that shimmers beneath a horizon we cannot yet see,” as Lisa Deam puts it in this wonderful book. “We’re going to Jerusalem, the city at the center of the world - the city where Jesus waits to welcome us home.”

Viewing life as a pilgrimage can help us to travel through the ups and downs of this life with faith and with courage. Viewing life as a pilgrimage also invites us to turn to pilgrims who have gone before us, and to learn from them how to travel faithfully, and how to “embrace a life of intentional pilgrimage.”

In this book, Deam turns to a unique source to help us do this: English pilgrims from the middle ages, some of whom embarked on arduous, perilous pilgrimages to Jerusalem, a distance of some three thousand miles in all. There is much that we can learn from them, and Deam does a wonderful job of sorting through their journals and pilgrimage experiences to find nuggets of faith-filled wisdom for us modern-day pilgrims. I loved learning about these pilgrims, people like Felix Fabri, Margery Kempe, and Pietro Casolapeople. They lived in a world so different from our own, and yet they also faced many of the same spiritual challenges that we do. They walked to Jerusalem looking for meaning, and for an experience that would deepen their faith and help them grow closer to God. They recorded their joys and frustrations, their challenges and blessings on the way, and their experience can teach us and encourage us on the way.

For example, they teach us that “The first lesson of our pilgrimage is this: before we even walk out our front door, we need to know where to point our feet.” Using these pilgrims as guides, Deam pushes against the oft-shared wisdom of our time, that it is the journey that matters. Not completely. The destination also matters. And the good news in viewing life in this way is that we know where the path leads. As Christians, we know where our lives are headed, and because of that we can take risks and live with courage.

And not only do we know our final destination, where the path of faith leads, but Deam reminds us that “one of the great paradoxes of pilgrimage” is that “as we make this pilgrimage to God, we also make it with God. We are not left to find our way alone, for God is at once our destination and our means of reaching it.” Isn’t this what Jesus promised in his very last words of Matthew’s Gospel? “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

In this book we also learn from other mentors of the faith, including the English mystic, Walter Hilton. Hilton reminds us that as people of faith we should travel light and trust in our loving God. He offers a simple mantra “I am nothing; I have nothing; I desire nothing but the love of Jesus alone.” When the storms of life throw us off course, we can return to this mantra, and “retrain our gaze on our destination.” Hilton also assures us and all pilgrims that we will reach our destination, no matter how arduous the journey becomes. “If you keep on this way, I promise that you shall not be slain but come to the place that you desire.”

The place that we desire has a name. We can call it Jerusalem, or Heaven, but the place is always, and only, where our loving God is to be found. We are pilgrims on the way to this blessed place, assured not only that we will come to this place, but that our loving God is with us every step of the way. I encourage all of my fellow pilgrims to let Lisa Deam’s faith-filled words of wisdom guide you on your way to the “the city that shimmers beneath a horizon we cannot yet see.”

[Raymond (Randy) Blacketer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many of us have been stuck at home for the better part of a year, unable to travel except for necessary trips to work or to the store, and only with precautions against a deadly pandemic. Nevertheless, there are other ways to travel. In this delightful book, Dr. Lisa Deam shows us how. She calls on us to make our way to Jerusalem, as pilgrims to the Holy City. How can we do such a thing? Not literally, but spiritually, following a trail blazed by medieval wayfarers centuries ago.

Deam serves as our travel agent and tour guide, selling us on the idea of spiritual pilgrimage and leading us on the arduous journey to our destination, and back again. Because it is a journey of the mind and spirit, the endearing illustrations by Paul Soupiset help us to envision both our fellow travelers and points of interest and peril along the way. These illustrations, including a map of the major pilgrimage routes, mimic the style of woodcuts and complement Deam’s evocative writing to create a beautiful little book.

The book is divided into three sections: preparation, journey, and arrival. In preparation, we learn that all of us are pilgrims. The image of every believer as a pilgrim through the journey of life is common all through Christian history, based on the biblical teaching in Hebrews 11:13-16 that we long for a better country, our true homeland, pictured at the end of the book of Revelation as the New Jerusalem. Like pilgrims of old, we must throw off everything, or as Deam puts it, “arrive naked,” and fix our eyes on Jesus in order not to go off course (Heb. 12:1–2).

These biblical themes lay behind the whole of the book, and they are made even more concrete by the fellow travelers we meet in its pages. Among others, our traveling companions include Felix Fabri, a Dominican friar who impishly sneaks into forbidden sites in the Holy Land, and Margery Kempe, a laywoman of exuberant and intense piety, whose exuberance and intensity were often far too much for those around her to bear. These real, historical figures add depth and color to the spiritual excursion on which Deam guides the reader.

But it is not merely a book about historical bygones. Deam brings the experiences of these wayfarers, harrowing and joyful, into our own lives. We, too, cross foreboding Alps that threaten to exhaust us; we, too, must traverse tempestuous seas that threaten to sink us. And lest we think that the pilgrimage before us is somehow our own accomplishment, either a triumph to make us proud or a burden too great for our paltry endurance, Deam continually emphasizes that it is Christ who sustains us in this lifelong trek. “I am nothing; I have nothing; I desire nothing but the love of Jesus,” as one of our pilgrim guides, Walter Hilton, reminds us throughout the journey.

Deam has done a masterful job of writing this book, bringing her expert knowledge of medieval spirituality and medieval maps to bear, but also her keen spiritual sensitivity. She is an expert guide for this journey of the spirit. This is a spiritual book with real depth and solid substance, but also whimsical and charming. During a time of plague, we may be stuck in the house, but our hearts and souls are not confined. That is the hope and encouragement that Deam’s book conveys to those of us who are on the way.

[N.L. Brumbaugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soli Deo gloria. This book starts where it should by giving glory to God. I read this book in little chunks at a time. Sort of like reading about Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, I needed time to absorb what I was reading to get its quality. Lisa Deam unpacks for us the pilgrimages of a handful of medieval travelers on their way to the Holy Land, to the very places where Jesus walked, ministered, and was crucified. Like with any real life adventure, I learned how rigorous, risky, lonely, and costly it was for these pilgrims intent on seeing it through to the end. “Our medieval travelers were slow-movement philosophers way before the modern era. For pilgrimage, true pilgrimage, is always slow. It takes the time it needs,” writes Deam. Pilgrimages commence in stages as do our own spiritual pilgrimages. Preparation and trust in God are necessary for putting both feet in the same direction to move forward toward our pilgrimage’s fulfillment. Sometimes you pause for awhile, to wait and pray, like the pilgrims waiting for a boat to take passage across the sea to the shore of the Holy Land. Then to wait a couple weeks more until authorities let them debark. Even then, not with freedom to go where they wish, to pursue at will, but within the confines of the authorities’ directives and guides. Oh the joy, though, when their quest brings them to the path of our Lord, where they are moved to worship. We are welcomed to make our own spiritual pilgrimage as we follow the path of those who have gone on before us. I enjoyed the topic and the presentation. Illustrations and quotations enhance this book.

[Jean Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pilgrimage as a way of life for spiritual seekers by Lisa Deam. She had be at the word – pilgrimage as that is a key word in my spirituality. This is a new title exploring that everyone is a pilgrim and we are all on a journey. This is a book about traveling well.

"For Dante, pilgrimage required two elements; the challenge of distance and the sense of being strangers in a strange land." I certainly can agree with that statement – both in my external travels and my inward journey.

I especially like how she introduces us to fellow pilgrims from history such as Margery Kempe, Felix Fabri, and Pietro Casola and to whom the destination mattered. She shows us how their adventures along the road taught them important lessons, such as patience, perseverance, and an understanding of suffering. Yet these pilgrims always kept Jerusalem, kept Jesus, in their sights. And knowing their goal, they kept going.

Encouraging read that exposed me to some unfamiliar spiritual pilgrims while grounded me in what my journey held too.

[Shannon Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for a life group book club I participate in at St. Andrew's UMC on Tuesday evenings via Zoom. We pilgrimaged through this book together. The book follows spiritual seekers of the Middle Ages as they traverse on the long pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Deam challenges her readers to embrace spiritual pilgrimage in the everyday. She proposes that "our longing and our hope make us travelers." I've been really working on meditation this year, and reading the daily offerings of Richard Rohr, so reading this book felt like a continuation of that deeply personal work. Deam suggests that "prayer is a type of pilgrimage where we travel deep within ourselves to find Jesus." She also introduced me to this idea that our expulsion from the Garden of Eden wasn't an exile but rather a life-long pilgrimage. I loved the intersection of history and spirituality, and this book read like a meditation, and helped me appreciate my own personal pilgrimage.

[Katie B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Through the retelling of the stories of the pilgrims of the Middle Ages, she emboldens the call of followers of Jesus today to our own spiritual pilgrimage. Especially powerful in the midst of a season where physical pilgrimage is impossible due to pandemic, her storytelling and inviting prose prompt readers to spend time discerning the next steps of their own spiritual quest.

As someone who loves both history and strong characters, I found this book to be a delightful read that often had me grabbing my pencil to underline points to come back to as I make my own “pilgrimage.” #3ktoJesus #newbooks #journeyoffaith

[Craigm · Rating 4 out of 5]

3000 Miles to Jesus: Pilgrimage as a Way of Life for Spiritual Seekers by Lisa Deem introduces us to three medieval pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem and makes the analogy of our spiritual life as a pilgrimage. I enjoyed the combination of historical pilgrimages and figures tied to spiritual formation. The chapters are quick and informative allowing the reader to set aside a little time each day with the book or plow through it quite quickly. I recommend this book to anyone interested in spiritual formation and Christian pilgrimage.

[Nicole Walters]

3000 miles to Jesus takes us on a journey with Medieval pilgrims to Jerusalem and on a parallel journey into our own souls. Deam is a gentle guide who blends history, story, and direction for our spiritual path. I've been to Jerusalem myself but never on such a perilous journey. Seeing the sacrifice and commitment of pilgrimage in this way is an apt metaphor for our own lives, and it will challenge and encourage the reader interested in a more genuine walk with Jesus.

[Jennifer Layte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is right up my alley as the founder and director of a ministry called, of all things, The Pilgrimage. I really loved this very accessible devotional/historical account of spiritual pilgrimage in the 1400’s, and the way Deam “brings it forward” into the present for those of us committed to journeying to Jesus even if our pilgrimages end up being a little more metaphorical. I think this book would lend itself well as a text for one of the courses I teach, too.

[Melanie Weldon-Soiset · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative, insightful, and enjoyable work by spiritual guide par excellence Lisa Deam. Even as it's grounded in Deam's deep historical training, this book also tickles the imagination in the best possible way. I finished the book with a deep sigh of gratitude for the tradition of pilgrimage in my Christian faith.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

From a chair in my home, through the pages of this little guidebook, I joined medieval pilgrims and author Lisa Deam on a memorable pilgrimage of the heart. As Deam writes, “A true pilgrim travels nowhere more distant than the landscape of her own faith.”

[Conor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great introduction to pilgrimage for a protestant searcher. Unfortunately, once again these sacred acts are applied into the internal application rather than producing a structure of an external act of pilgrimage that could be beneficial. Learned a lot from the excerpts of the medieval accounts.

[Kelly Catlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful read! Take some time for a pilgrimage! Lisa Deam has written a lovely book for you to enjoy and travel into.

[Laura Fabrycky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. Here's what I said about it:

https://englewoodreview.org/lisa-deam...

[Annabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great food for thought and I enjoyed it!

[Prasanta Verma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drawing upon the stories of past pilgrims, such as Margery Kempe, Felix Fabri, and Pietro Casola, Lisa Deam brings to life lovely thoughts and images of life as a pilgrimage. While looking through the lens of pilgrimage to holy places, Deam presents thinking of our spirituality as a pilgrimage and a way of life. An enriching and lovely read if you're on a spiritual journey, traveled on a physical pilgrimage, or wish a deeper view into the spiritual life as a pilgrimage.