DAYS 116-118 - Indiana! Attica, Lafayette - 2247 miles from home
- Esther Lisa Tishman
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
Holy Hoosier! We're really making tracks now! The last three days have seen us crisscrossing west central Indiana... a fact that sneaked up on me as I found myself crossing the Wabash River and realized that seamlessly we'd slipped into a new state and a new time zone. It's very very strange, friends, to suddenly "lose" an hour and wake up the next day to sunrise at 8 a.m. Among the many bizaare aspects of pilgrimage, our relationship to time - to sunrise and sunset - keeps giving me pause. I am a woman who lives so much by the clock - my personal book of hours - that my husband calls me "Time Queen." And here on the road, I'm continually checking my Garmin while I"m walking - computing distance, tracking time, wanting to make sure I rendezvous with Bob and others as planned, et cetera et cetera.
But it's all more or less arbitrary, isn't it? The sunflowers I saw yesterday - saucily sprouting amidst the corn - didn't know what time it was, or that it’s nearly November and the honeybees are nowhere in sight. They just face the sky and put on their party clothes.
But arbitrary or not, we pilgrims are now officially Eastern... and our destination is now just 600 miles away. Chump change. And even if zones and borders and boundaries are merely manmade, their marks leave their marks. Even if what divides us is made up and manipulated, we still need to do our work - and cross the divide.
So here we are in Indiana. The first person we met in the Hoosier State waved hello to Bob while he was hiking alone - asked Bob if he needed help. That was Carl Eades with his gorgeous, chunky pit bull Nickie. Ezra and I were parked in the rig, waiting for Bob, when Carl drove up about 10 minutes later. "He's on his way!" Carl shouted. It took me a moment to realize that Carl was indeed talking about Bob. We got out of the rig, chatted with Carl - who offered to buy us cheeseburgers from McDonalds. Aw, thanks but no thanks - we're still full from breakfast. Ezra did ask Carl's opinion about engine oil, and then the guys did that eternally guy-ritual-thing of popping the hood and sticking their heads in, checking fluids, chewing the fat, etc.
So Indiana began with friendly neighbors and chunky pit bulls.
Later that day, we landed in Attica, met by Pastor Dave Adams at the Wabash Valley Bible Baptist Church: a beautiful, spacious building, expanding on the community originally founded by Pastor Dave’s father, John Adams. Pastor Dave and his wife Tawnia are active, athletic and engaged - inspiring leaders (check out the Pastor's Devotions on the Run, for instance).
As someone with an interfaith heart, I've often been shy when meeting leadershp at a Baptist or Bible church - I worry that we won't be able to connect authenically on faith matters since I embrace a wide path to the Sacred. But on this pilgrimage I've met only kindness, openness - folks eager to reflect deeply on theology, on devotional difference, on the possibility of interfaith dialogue. Pastors like Ryan Lenerz in Chariton for instance, or Dave and Tawnia in Attica. Tawnia, who grew up as a missionary kid in Mexico, served us outrageously delicious enchiladas - and then the five of us - Dave, Tawnia, Bob, Ezra and myself - talked for a couple of hours about Judaism and Christianity, about the ethical teachings of Mussar, about the necessity for new models of prayer that include lament (Pastor Dave's Educational Studies doctorate research was on this question), about the nature of covenant itself. And then we pilgrims were able to take showers and cozy up in the little "Mission Apartment" the Church has for visitors.... Between Carl Eades and the Adamses, Indiana was already treating us very well.
Not that we'd forgotten our warm hosts in Champaign-Urbana. As it turns out, Justin and Miriam Snider of Faith United Methodist were married in Attica, back in the day. I found the church - it's on the historical registry, no longer used for worship, and now known only as "The Old Church." I snapped a pic, joking with Justin via text that we were on the Snider Commemorative Tour.
This whole pilgrimage, after all, is a commemorative tour.
Two Liberty Walks supporters from Eugene joined us the next day - a complete and joyous surprise. Juliet and Michael: good friends from the congregation at Buddha Eye Zen Community Temple. An email that morning from Juliet: "Hi, we're wanting to walk with you from Attica to Lafayette. Are you on Route 25?" I love it! This is the kind of trail spontaneity that I've learned to appreciate. Trail Magic. Even a Type-A Nerd-It-All-Out-Time-Queen can learn new tricks.
So - Juliet and Michael drove something like 4.5 hours to join us for the evening and a day on the road. We were five happy pilgrims in Lafayette. (Although just briefly. Ezra and I said goodbye to each other on the morning of Day 118 - Juliet and Michael left as well later that day. And then there were again just two: me and Bob.)
Speaking of happy pilgrims... In what must be a Liberty Walks record, in Lafayette we ended up in our THIRD church in a row with hot showers. Lafayette's Immanuel United Church of Christ is a stonework gem - nestled in a park-like setting, complete with a memorial, contemplative trail around the park. Warmly welcomed with apple cider and pumpkin muffins, Pastor TJ Jenney gave us a tour - while trustees Jeff Krieger and Doug Beets helped us settle in.
Pastor TJ has a background not only in campus ministry at Purdue, but also in college teaching. Dialogue with him has been a highlight of this trip. He composed a beautiful, special prayer for us - attuned to the nuances of an inclusive spiritual path. He also made generous room for us at his Wednesday Bible study where Isaiah 53 was the cornerstone of the night's teaching - and again warmed this pilgrim's heart with his genuine curiosity and sensitivity to varied faith perspectives. And then he invited us to join him and his daughter Savannah for dinner. Talk about varied faith perspectives: I got Greek fries (with feta and lemon) - Bob got strawberry french toast with ice cream!
Difference is what makes life interesting, no?
