Monday, May 24, 2010

What is Your Santiago?

What is 
People make pilgrimages for many reasons.  Most of the pilgrims I have seen on el Camino de Santiago appera to be seeking adventure in one of its many forms.  And Camaraderie.  And Spanish vino.  The latter are easy to spot.  Other pilgrims travel to Santiago for personal reasons.  For strength, for wisdom, for answers.   Still others travel for spiritual enlightenment, to be cleansed of sin or to know God.  Fruit standToday I saw a well-travelled peregrino walking toward me on the trail--away from Santiago de Compostela.  that is the way pilgrims of old did it, those that survived anyway.  They would walk out their front door, walk to Santiago and then, presumably having found what they were looking for,  turn around and walk back home.  


Santiago DCWhat were they searching for?  God?  Forgiveness?  Knowledge?  Whatever it was, it must have been valuable enough for them to leave their homes, their families, their farms and their livelihoods, and risk their lives in hopes of finding it.   


Deyanira And the modern day pilgrim?  They share with the medieval pilgrims a desire to see Santiago.   I asked Mags what she was searching for.  What is her Santiago?  Reminding me that this whole pilgrimage thing was my idea, she said she was here seeking experiences.  There's nothing wrong with that, I suppose, but imagine taking the same approach to life--"Well, I'll just plod along and see what happens."  No sir, a successful pilgrimage should begin with an end in mind.


So what is the end I have in mind, you ask?  What is my Santiago?   It's spiritual and for that reason I won't say exactly, but my Santiago involves strengthening some of the most important relationships in my life.  I can feel that strength growing with every pedal stroke.  Isn't it peculiar how our inner self grows strongest when we weaken our physical self?  Canine pilgrim


And what about you, Pilgrim?  What is your Santiago?  


Pilgrims







1 comment:

  1. Well, it wasnt James who wrote this but Paul and it speaks powerfully to one of your last questions:
    "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

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