I was recently given a fabulous gift of discovering—once again—what it is like to be a pilgrim. You might wonder what is meant by this term “pilgrim"? I have to admit, it is not a term that I use very often, but in this context “one who seeks” or “wonders without assuming to have the answers” would be a good working definition. To explain a little deeper…my church gave me the gift of a ten week sabbatical in which I was not to do any pastoral work, but to rest and refresh.
I never have been a person who does well sitting still for too long so I did what anyone would who loves the outdoors, hiking, and meeting new people. I took six of those weeks to walk the
Camino de Santiago, which is an 800km. path that starts in St. Jean Pied de Port, France and stretches all the way across Northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela (Actually if you walk 90 more km. you can arrive at the Atlantic Ocean). The Camino is a pilgrimage, or spiritual journey travelers have been walking for over one thousands years. Next to the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the Camino is the oldest journey of this type within the Christian tradition. Well, that is enough about the history of it to give you some context.
In the next couple posts I will attempt to pull out different things, which I have been reminded of on this journey and am still learning. However, the one thing I would like to bring out in this post is the freedom I felt this pilgrimage gave me to clear my mind. Once again I was able to see myself as a pilgrim or a seeker on a journey that has just begun. For far too long I have felt like I know my surrounds, those who travel with me, my goals, the obstacles that stand in front of those goals…etc. I have felt like my feet have begun to fall asleep. I realize that those who read this post have different careers and their journey is unique, although I think our worlds might not be too different in that we all get accustomed to our regular routine, which is not a bad thing in itself. We need regularity and predictability to a certain degree to stay sane. However, when our routine becomes so predictable that it begins to pacify or lull us into a state where we are no longer being challenged or growing mentally and spiritually it can become dangerous. But waking early each morning to a seven or eight hour walk each day for thirty some days, eating and sleeping in a strange place with people I barely know, who snore and have different habits than my own…has a way of breaking a person out of their routine quite quickly.
One gem of understanding that I have been reminded of is Life is a journey and we are all pilgrims or seekers upon it’s path. Sometimes we lose our focus and find ourselves growing too comfortable in our routine, which can begin to hinder us from growing mentally and spiritually. The question I take away from this is, “How can we keep ourselves moving forward,” or better yet, “How can we continue to be seekers instead of sleepers along life’s journey?”
