Pilgrims, christians and pharisees

[Ignacio Franc és]

One of the things that impressed me most of the Camino was discovering
how much alike we are all.

I met there people from all parts of the world, different religions and
social classes, but in the pilgrimage all this differences were not
important to any of us. We only saw in our fellow-pilgrim another human
sharing with us the same sufferings and pains.

When I finished my first Camino in 2002 I read a book about 1999's
pilgrims storys. I could find in their stories and
motivations the portrait of my own story and the motivations other
pilgrims I had met in the Camino had told me.

Thus, the shared experiences, the comradeship and solidarity among
pilgrims that I encountered reinforced my believes that the nucleus of my
christian faith should be the example of humanism that Jesus gave us and
not the norms and cults of a particular church.

I am catholic, but only to the extent that this adjective does not separate
me from other human being.

Those individuals who use their religion, welth, education, social class,
race or nationality to trace lines between them and the rest of the
members of mankind cannot be regarded as true christians.

Class-consciousness, nationalism, racism, snobbishness, pompousness are
not compatible with a real christian life.

Anyone that puts up a flag in front of another human being thus
saying "your not one of our group" cannot be regarded as christian no
matter how proudly he or she proclames it.

This individuals are to be regarded as the modern pharisees and they have
become the christ pursuers of our times.

All of us know of examples of this behaviour, even among this list
members.

They show us what the christians must avoid and constitute the new pagans
that our example must convert.

I do not know if this kind of article is within the topics of this
list but I wanted to state what I expect from a fellow-pilgrim as I have
been receiving e-mails from a couple of this pharisees that claim that I
am not good enough to be part of this group. They have ended asking me to
stop writting to the list and have black-listed me from their e-mails even
though I have not shown any interest in addressing them separatey the
messages that I can address to all list members.


Buen Camino a todos

Ignacio