Posts in Travel
Inside the Christian camp that used to be Oregon's infamous cult ranch

Do you ever wonder what happened to Osho’s ranch in Wild Wild Country? Young Life, a Christian student ministry, bought the land for a camp retreat center 20 years ago this month. We paid a visit.

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The nuns who built a monastery (but are famous for their bakery)

One nun acted as the church’s contractor and another the mechanical engineer to build this $2 million Greek Orthodox church and its surrounding monastery, including a popular bakery and coffee bar that locals and tourists drive more than 50 miles through Indian country to reach.

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Hans Nielsen Hauge: An Early Norwegian Entrepreneur Evangelist Revered From Oslo To Minnesota

Who could imagine that a Norwegian itinerant preacher and entrepreneur born in the 18th century would become a leadership model in modern business? 

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Lag b'Omer: the Jewish holiday of faith and folklore

The annual pilgrimage is the 33rd day of Judaism's somber seven-week "counting" between Passover and Pentecost and marks the ceasing of a plague that killed 24,000 disciples of Rabbi Akiva ( c. 50–135 CE), a sage martyred by the Romans during the genocidal persecution of the Emperor Hadrian. 

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Pilgrimage to Ireland: The Book of Kells at Trinity College

Trinity College in Dublin, to be exact, holds many a wondrous treasure for the insatiable scholar and fewer curiosities for the vaguely obligated tourist. For me, it held one of the crown jewels of literature, The Book of Kells.

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Pilgrimage to Poland: Temple of Divine Providence is 227 years in the making

The Catholic church - as much a symbol of nationalism as religious struggle and freedom - is a mix of history and modernity, with LED-lit pillars and tombs for saints and fallen government officials. A museum dedicated to Poland’s most famous Catholics, Pope John Paul II and Blessed Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, is set to open next month.

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Pilgrimage: Fort St. James National Historic Site

A unique bed and breakfast where one can experience life in 1896 is in a Canadian fort named after a saint in central British Columbia. Fort St. James is the only national park in the country where people can sleep in historic dwellings, making it one of the best-kept secrets of the Canadian parks system.

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Pilgrimage: Inside New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral

New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral is considered one of the most visible symbols of Roman Catholicism in the United States. It takes up an entire block in the center of the city and at the heart of the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

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Pilgrimage: A journey to Lithuania’s enigmatic Hill of Crosses

As you walk a long, bricked and gravel pathway to the hill, you start to notice odd and sundry versions of the cross and crucifix emerging from the strange mound. High crosses. Low crosses. Gold crosses. Black crosses. Silver crosses. Some forged from metal. Others carved from wood.

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