[Gocamino] Children on the camino

[blaroli at aol.com]

Hello you all,
My dear e-friend Dave (our GoCamino listserv "M), who doesn't let me get away with anything, has just reminded me that a couple of years ago I was agitating for some form of official recognition for those dogs who've made the walk to Santiago.... sometimes from as far away as Germany, Austria and Holland.
Well, it is perfectly true, but I really just wanted some sort of a commemorative Santiago medal that could be affixed to their collars, sort-of like the St. Francis medals that we affix today.
 I'm grateful to Dave for bringing the matter up. At the next general meeting of the Archconfraternity that I attend I'm going to screw-up the courage to bring the issue up, fairly confident that I'll find sufficient dog-lover pilgrims willing to fund the proposal (already a few New York friends have offered their $$$ help).
I may add that when one goes to Jerusalem as a pilgrim the tourist office there will give a "certificate of visit" to anyone who requests it. But, when one goes to the church of the Holy Sepulcher and wishes a memorial document bearing one's name the priests will only grant one after one has attended Mass and taken Communion.
While many Santiago pilgrims are neither Catholic, nor particularly religious, the information provided by the Pilgrims' office unfailingly shows that among those pilgrims who receive the Compostela more than 90% undertook the pilgrimage for religious or religious/cultural reasons. 
My own pilgrimages have been primarily religious, as have been those of most of the pilgrims I know.  My very dear e-mail friend, Kat Gower, recently undertook part of a pilgrimage in France as a plea for the recovery of my recent back injuries.
Thanks a million millions, Kat. Your devotion worked. In fact, it worked so well that I even went waltzing last night in this delicious Vienna!
 
Big hug to you all,
 
Rosina
-----Original Message-----
From: rebrites at yahoo.com
To: casharus at yahoo.com; GoCamino at oakapple.net
Sent: Mon, 27 Nov 2006 4:03 AM
Subject: Re: [Gocamino] Children on the camino


I think communion is between the communee and whatever
significance he attaches to the moment and the medium.
It's a lot like a Compostela. To some it's just a
piece of paper; to others it is the culmination of
their entire hike, a much-appreciated official seal of
community. 

Children really dig the community and the Official
Approval Certificate aspect of the Compostela, I am
sure...It's like winning a ribbon in the school
science fair. I imagine it's especially hard for a
child to accept not getting the paper if his bigger
brother or sister get one and he doesn't. It's not
FAIR!  

I think the unfairness is that some tour operators
take their 4-star customers on van-supported daily
hikes on selected bits of camino trail, then run
hither and yon with a handful of credencials
collecting sellos for them. At the end of the trail
the hikers are herded into the cathedral office with
their pristine credencials and handed the same
compostela given to long-distance hikers. 
...but then pikers and hustlers have been a part of
the trail for centuries!   

I don't object to supported hikers; I was a camino
tourist myself a while back. But now that I have a
sello (a right nice one, I might add!)  I am careful
who I give it to. One per customer. And any little kid
who's hiking that far is first in line!  


 
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