History, Faith, And Beauty. The Complete American Pilgrim With Howard Kramer
What does it mean to be a secular pilgrim — when you’re not a Christian, but you love churches, history, beauty, and religious symbolism? In this episode, Howard Kramer talks about some of the most beautiful places to visit in terms of architecture, as well as natural locations, and how sometimes, the most emotionally resonant places, those that inspire awe and wonder, are not the most famous, but those that touch us at a deeper level. Howard Kramer is the author of The Complete American Pilgrim, The Complete Christian Pilgrim, and The Complete American Military Pilgrim. His extensive site, TheCompletePilgrim.com, contains articles and pictures of some of the world’s greatest sites of religious interest. Show notes * Pilgrimage as a journey of meaning, regardless of religious belief * The four stages of pilgrimage * Interesting churches in the USA, chosen for natural beauty, architecture, history, and meaning * Other places of religious interest * Recommended travel books You can find Howard Kramer at TheCompletePilgrim.com My book, Pilgrimage, Lessons Learned from Solo Walking Three Ancient Ways, is out now. Transcript of the interview Jo: Howard Kramer is the author of The Complete American Pilgrim, and his extensive site, thecompletepilgrim.com, contains articles and pictures of some of the world’s greatest sites of religious interest. Welcome, Howard. Howard: Thank you so much, Joanna. Jo: I’m thrilled to talk to you today. What sparked your interest in pilgrimage, and what has been your favorite pilgrimage so far? Howard: I had the opportunity to live in France as a student, and during the Christmas break, I went to Italy and traveled around, and for the very first time really in my life got to see some of the classic churches and cathedrals of antiquity. I absolutely fell in love with the architecture and the art and the history almost more than the religious aspect of it because I developed a very big fascination with seeing some of these wonderful, beautiful old buildings as far back as the Roman era. I have a very extensive story about my first trip to Rome. I will not go into it now, but suffice it to say, it ended with me seeing Christmas Eve mass at the Vatican, and it was just an absolutely spectacular event for me even though I’m not Catholic. It was a wonderful thing to see. I don’t know if I count that as a pilgrimage because that’s not what I set out to do initially, but I do look back on it as one. To date, I’ve been to, I hesitate to say thousands of churches and other religious sites but probably at least 1,000 around the world. And to date, my favorite pilgrimage, the one that I look back on most fondly was three years ago for the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. I had the honor to attend the 500th-anniversary celebration in Wittenberg, Germany. I got to go celebrate at the church there with the local Lutherans. And it was a wonderful, wonderful experience. I was supposed to do something akin to that this year. I was supposed to come to England this year in advance of the 400th anniversary of the pilgrim voyage to Massachusetts pilgrims. For those of you in the United Kingdom who don’t know, those are the ship of colonists that sailed in 1620, 400 years ago to the United States. In the United States, it’s recognized, not just for its historical importance, but for its religious importance. And I was very excited to come over there and visit some churches in England and in the Nether...