What It Means to Go on a Modern Pilgrimage

“Christianity teaches that this world is not our home, and the original pilgrims incarnated that belief with every step they took. Without quite realizing it at the time, I wanted the Camino to lead me to a new home, for without a higher calling, I felt aimless; lacking heaven, I felt displaced. When I tattooed seashells on my legs in Santiago, it was a sign of grief, like scratching a lost love’s name in the trunk of a tree, and also a promise: even if my faith completely evaporated, I’d keep searching.”

Mark Mann – The Walrus – October 2018

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The Man Who Saved 200 Syrian Refugees

“When Jim Estill decided to sponsor 50 Syrian refugee families, he didn’t tell anyone about it at first—not his accountant, not his friends, not even his wife. It was the summer of 2015, and the death toll in Syria had reached a quarter of a million people, while another four million had fled the country. All summer long, the news reported horror stories of Syrians drowning in the Mediterranean. Humanitarian aid programs were being cut across the Middle East. As he watched the news, Estill got worked up. ‘I didn’t want to be 80 years old and know that I did nothing during the greatest humanitarian crisis of my time,’ he says.”

Mark Mann – Toronto Life – December 2016