Last month I had the incredible experience of hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Here’s the third installment about the adventure!
People talk about leaving something behind on the Camino: grief or anger or other emotional baggage that weighs them down. I wondered if my walk would uncover something I needed to abandon in order to happily move forward. Oddly, I don’t think I left anything behind, but I did bring something back: fresh eyes for my everyday pilgrimage.
Last month I had the incredible experience of hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Here’s the second installment about the adventure!
An often-repeated comment by people who have hiked the Camino is that they were touched by others they met along the way. (Have you seen the movie The Way? If so, you know what I mean). I expected to make new friends in our pilgrim tour group, but I didn’t expect to be moved by strangers on the walk. As always, God is full of surprises.
One morning, after snapping pictures of several beautiful vistas, I accidently dropped my cell phone into the zippered air vent of my jacket instead of the zippered pocket. Did the walkers 500 feet back see it fall? Or did they just happen to find it? Did the Holy Spirit point it out to them? All I know is that from my spot on the road ahead, I gradually noticed their shouts: “Amigo! Friend! Pilgrim! Peregrino! Hey!”
When I finally turned around, a couple was quickly approaching, the woman frantically waving my cell phone above her head.
“Thank you!” I exclaimed, my heart pounding and panicked at the thought I almost lost it. For the next few hours I thought about my excessive affection for my phone. It’s loaded with pictures and important contacts to be sure, but after all, it’s just a phone. What other possessions am I overly attached to? I remembered the admonition to enjoy the blessings and gifts God gives you while you have them, but graciously let them go when it’s time. It gave me something to pray about for the rest of that day.
These were not the only kind strangers. Although nature provides plenty of outdoor bathroom space along the trail, most hikers try to use an indoor one.
Continue reading →Last month I had the incredible experience of hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. I know it will take weeks to process the whole experience, but in the meantime, here’s the first installment!
“What is it?” is easier to answer. The Camino de Santiago, or the Way of Saint James, is a Catholic pilgrimage to the city of Santiago de Compostela in the Galicia region of Spain. The Apostle St James, one of the two sons of Zebedee and brother to the “Beloved Apostle” John, is traditionally thought to be buried there. He is the patron saint of Spain since he evangelized the country and according to legend, interceded on its behalf in battle against the Moors.
People have walked the trail for over 1200 years, and it now attracts more than 300,000 pilgrims annually. Those who walk at least 100 km receive the Compostela, a colorful handwritten certificate authenticating their accomplishment (though in my case, the handwriting proclaimed my name as Mr. Arnold Colleen). Pilgrims carry a Camino passport booklet, which is stamped at least once or twice a day in various towns, chapels, and post offices along the way, to validate the distance and time walked.
For a lot of modern walkers, the Camino provides simply a vacation – a chance to exercise, get away from technology, eat well, and explore the stunning countryside. For others, it is a pilgrimage of challenge and achievement, celebrating a landmark birthday or event like retirement. For many, though, the pilgrimage is still a quest for prayer, faith and spiritual growth.
So why did I do it?
Continue reading →Hot off the presses! Guess who has a story on page 353? Yours truly! It will be available in bookstores on June 4 – the day before National Running Day. How cool is that?!
And just so you know, the stories are for walkers, too
“How am I going to get through this?” my friend asked, as quiet tears slid down her weary-eyed face. There was no easy answer for her question, so I just reached across the table and held her hand.
The odd thing was that she was the fourth person lately who asked that same question. My guess is that each of us has asked it before, probably more than once. Between the grief of a husband’s sudden death, the loss of a miscarriage, a terrifying health diagnosis, and unexpected marital separations, it seems I know a lot of people who are struggling. I have been thinking about how I survived when Neil died. Here’s some thoughts.