There is a Seahawks game on this morning and just back from Mass so I am going to blog away with the sound off hoping to accomplish two things at once. Catherine is coming over to join me watching at halftime. So, onward.
Last evening My Rebecca and I went to a “slide show” on the Camino by author Cathy Fulton. She walked the Norté as part of a trek around the world. Very impressive, her story. So I got invited to add something where I could. It was so hard to keep my two cents to a dull roar.
I was telling this to Catherine this morning as we drove back from Mass and she wanted me to write about it. Cathy the speaker and myself were the only ones who had done the Way and there were a dozen folks in the small audience. It always strikes me the divide that becomes apparent between the two groups no matter where it happens to be.
The folks who haven’t gone ask lots of questions about equipment, facilities, communications and routine. I probably left some categories out. But regardless the questions center around the engineering of the journey. And this is where I always have to bring up the “fact” that the original guys did this walk in burlap underwear. There seems to be something important to me about this. Just trying to steer rookies away from these physical concerns.
The interesting point here is that veterans barely talk of these concerns. They talk about all the community stuff, the spiritual stuff, the beauty encountered. They talk about emotional stuff. They mention cafe con leche. They talk about snoring and friendship. Everyone has a getting lost story.
See what I am getting at? They are world’s apart. Not that I didn’t have rookie concerns beforehand, I did. But I did realize that there was the inner journey to prep for, to expedite.
OK, Seahawks 10 Eagles 3, second quarter. It’s not like I am beating up on rookies, just saying that they generally really don’t know what they are in for.
Sunday loves, Felipé.
Hi Phil,
Yes, I think I have come to realize that no matter what, there are two ways to do the Camino: and inner way, that is a pilgrimage, and an outer way that is a hike. And neither of them is better than the other, they are just different and people may be ready to do one and not the other. A hike requires a pretty healthy body, a lot of physical resources, is fueled by calories coming from fat storage, and is more successful when you have the right equipment and gear. While, a pilgrimage requires vulnerability and an awareness of the frailty of our hearts, is fueled by pains, hurts that we carry, doubts, etc., and is more successful when you carry the very basics. In a hike, the experience is the best when you are prepared. In a pilgrimage the experience is the best when you are unprepared for what you may encounter. In the hike, you do better when you are an “expert”, in the pilgrimage, when you are beginner.
This maybe why people who have faced adversity in life arrive to Santiago’s Cathedral after covering by foot 500 miles and their lives are transformed.
Likewise, may this is why those who have the tailored backpack and the right gore-tex clothing and carry the perfect weight and the right getting-to-the end mind-set, hike 500 miles from France to a town in Galicia called Santiago de Compostela.
Just a thought; as I know there was no way I could have hiked to Santiago.
Pilgrims Love,
Cris
Cris ~ just wow! Nice writing, thank you for taking the time to hammer that out. I have to let that digest. See you tomorrow. Felipé.x