A long obedience in the same direction

Eugene Peterson's book of this title uses a quote by Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil:

The essential thing "in heaven and earth" is... that there should be long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living.

My reason for starting this blog is to have a place to reflect on my own obedience over time and what is making my life worth living. So to start, I'll be rereading Peterson's book and reflecting on what his view of the Psalms of Ascent (Ps 120 - 134) have to say to my life as a wife, mother, and professor in Western PA.

Peterson's first chapter focuses on two terms: disciple and pilgrim. He uses "disciple" to refer to learners who are moving beyond the academic and toward life skills. And he uses "pilgrim" to refer to people on a journey:

...we are people who spend our lives going someplace, going to God, and whose path for getting there is the way, Jesus Christ.

I have been both a disciple and a pilgrim in other contexts--my PhD work felt like one huge discipleship program, where I had to learn very specific ways to ask and answer questions. It wasn't about learning facts, but learning how to learn and do within the context of psychology. And when my husband and I moved our small family to Canada for my first tenure-track teaching gig, I got pilgrimage. No matter how prepared I thought I was, I quickly knew I was not at home; hearing radio reports about multiple car fires on the 404 in Toronto soon made it clear to this country girl.

But what about now? Am I still pursuing discipleship and pilgrimage? Am I still learning the life of the Way while I'm on the way home?