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<P>Dear Micheal, Jess, and friends. I am a religous Catholic. I attend Mass most every morning but that does not make the question any easer. Folklore of the Camino holds that if you don’t know why you are making the journey you will discover your reasons somewhere between Burgos and Leon. Well it works for me. I had pondered this question long ago before I ever left home. It’s a hard thing to say. Just what is the source of a compulsion, which grew from so many circumstances? The fact is I, at least, came here because I felt compelled to<EM>. Now sit down in the sun and think, in rational terms, no dreaming, What brought you here, to this path beside the road that seems to go on forever. Remember you have ten minutes to eat the orange, drink one-sixth of a liter of water, stretch the legs, get the pack back up and get back on the muddy trail. </EM>Well I’m between Burgos and Leon and I still haven’t got an answer. <EM>Oh I have the answer, but I have to be able to!
s!
ay something to people who ask. </EM></P></DIV>Religious pilgrims don’t often ask this question but tourists and hikers do. A handy answer for them is “I’m a religious pilgrim.” That puts them off sufficiently so that the discussion shifts to what trails we have hiked or what sights we have visited. Pilgrims, however, have an internal need for the walk that at best is hard to understand much less explain to an other. After several walks and shared meals with members of a cohort group, peoples motivations crystallize and we are able to help each other express some of our deepest feelings. This leads to what appears to be a rational laundry list of plausible reasons for making the trek. It is not entirely correct because the motivation for a pilgrimage is not rational. Not irrational but more unrational. In this process of revealing one’s self to a group of near strangers, who really do understand what you are trying to do, I found myself repeating certain themes and sympathiz!
in!
g and empathizing with others. In this way by the time I got to Leon I had the answer to the big question mapped out.
<DIV></DIV>I couldn’t help noticing that this process is similar to the group therapy or twelve step programs I have heard of. Perhaps that is a component of the healing effect of the Camino.
<DIV></DIV>Loss is a common and dominant theme among Pilgrims. My need to inject the death of my daughter into these discussions taught me that resolution of my grief was a big motivator in my walk. I knew that but had trouble admitting it. Now I am able to. Any religious advantage gained by the walk would be dedicated to her. My last gift.
<DIV></DIV>This was the Jubilee year. I did want to do something special, and Spain, beautiful Spain. These are the themes that recurred in my discussions. That’s why they are the stock answer to the big question: why?
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<DIV></DIV>--- "Michael P. Barham" <MPB5aDUKE.EDU>wrote:
<DIV></DIV>> > By the way,
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > how many people are actually walking the camino out
<DIV></DIV>> > of CHRISTIAN faith, rather than "to find myself" or
<DIV></DIV>> > to push the limits or to see the sights?
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Just curious,
<DIV></DIV>> > Michael
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Hi Michael, I MIGHT be. How's that for an answer?
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>While I have many reasons for walking the Camino
<DIV></DIV>>(starting this coming May), including an "invitation"
<DIV></DIV>>from That Whom/She Whom guides me, in the form of
<DIV></DIV>>unrelenting synchronicities, I include among them the
<DIV></DIV>>honoring of the deep spiritual hopes, passions, trials
<DIV></DIV>>and tribulations of those that have passed before me.
<DIV></DIV>>My belief in a Holographic Universe (which
<DIV></DIV>>co-habitates quite well with my Christian
<DIV></DIV>>ethic/values) leads me to belive that my heart quest
<DIV></DIV>>now, reverberates into the past - as earlier pilgrims'
<DIV></DIV>>quests reverberate forward to now. I include both the
<DIV></DIV>>Christian path, and the possible/probable druidic
<DIV></DIV>>initiatory path.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Further, I realize that immersing myself into a path
<DIV></DIV>>that is decidedly Christian - history, architecture
<DIV></DIV>>and art, intent of my road companions... may further
<DIV></DIV>>reveal to me other ways in which I still travel with
<DIV></DIV>>one foot on the Christian path.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Other than that, I hope to find myself. That is, I
<DIV></DIV>>hope for clarity to those open, and defined, questions
<DIV></DIV>>of faith, character, healing, living in a body,
<DIV></DIV>>consciousness, growth, service, teaching, living a
<DIV></DIV>>life of meaning and connection - outside of the
<DIV></DIV>>parameters of consumerism, life trajectory..., that
<DIV></DIV>>percolate through me in this transformative time in my
<DIV></DIV>>life. But, it DOES all have to do with a profound
<DIV></DIV>>deepening of Faith. (However, other than on the
<DIV></DIV>>Camino, and an occasional visit to Grace Cathedral,
<DIV></DIV>>you're not likely to find me in a church.)
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Thanks for asking. Anyone else have something to say?
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>__________________________________________________
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