Column: The Very Reverend John Dobson, Dean of Ripon monthly reflection - A celebration and a pilgrimage

​One recent Trip Advisor posting is typical of many we receive;

An amazing cathedral. We were greeted and made to feel welcome. We paid the very modest charge to get the stickers to allow us to take photos. After exploring by ourselves we then had a tour of the cathedral led by Godfrey this was really brilliant and we learned so much and realised how much we had missed on our own exploration. We would absolutely like to visit again. Thank you.

Some recent Google reviews give a similar impression:

My first visit last week. Stunningly beautiful and well maintained. Even the ‘priest’ (not sure of correct terminology for Church of England) came up to greet me and made me feel very welcome. And great to see it's a very ‘active’ and community focussed cathedral with lots of activities.

Wordless wonder and astonishment. This place has a very special feel about it.

Beautiful cathedral, so nice to be able to visit without having to pay an entry fee. Then I willingly gave a donation. Stained glass gorgeous and woodwork is amazing. Some parts date back to 672!

It’s all very encouraging for volunteers, staff and clergy alike. I hope it can also be a source of pride for the people of Ripon, the region, and the Diocese of Leeds, whose cathedral this is. In recent years we have seen growing numbers of visitors, with some record months this year. In that time, we have also noticed more people considering themselves to be pilgrims.

Pilgrimage is a theme that we are used to pondering here at Ripon Cathedral. This has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries, going back to the mediaeval shrine of St Wilfrid, and to his 7th century crypt. At the time of writing, a group of 22 of us from the cathedral are about to embark on the Camino, the pilgrim way to Santiago de Compostela. With the prospect of long days of walking in Spanish heat, I can’t help thinking, why did I ever agree to this! The truth, of course, is that whatever apprehensions we might have about the impact on the feet, we are very much looking forward to it and to being rewarded with a warm welcome at the famous shrine of St James the Great. Having walked 100km by then – hopefully! – we will each receive another award, the pilgrim’s certificate with the distinctive scallop shell.

In many ways, life is a pilgrimage for us all. Richard Rohr wrote, “The meaning of a pilgrimage is an interior journey. Primarily, it’s an interior journey enacted exteriorly. When we return home, if no interior journey has happened, we really haven’t made a pilgrimage. We’ve just been tourists. We’ve travelled around and said, “I saw this, and I saw that, and I bought this,” and so forth. But that’s what a tourist does, not a pilgrim. And God has called us on pilgrimage.” This could be applied to so much in life. Human flourishing is helped by a willingness to develop spiritually and embrace the opportunity for change. This is true for both individuals and communities.