Spiritual preparation

[JenD]

Yesterday I had my monthly meeting with my spiritual director. I told her that I had booked my flight for the Camino for this coming June. She then asked me "why are you doing it" (walking the camino). I could not come up with an answer right away because I have not spent enough time really pondering that question. She again asked "why are you doing it?" and I mumbled something like "to figure out what's next in my life" blah, blah, blah. The question has been on my mind ever since our conversation yesterday and I have realized that I must devote most of my preparation to be towards a spiritual end. From reading the accounts of others, whether here on the forum or from books I have read, I realize that one cannot set expectations for what will happen on the Camino in any psychological or spiritual way. One must be open to what the Camino will provide. At the same time I feel I need to approach this experience in a prayerful way - and my experience has begun, my Camino has begun here at home. I have decided that any reading I do will be along these lines. I think I have read enough about blisters, wicking underwear, and the like. I'm curious what others think, not so that I can do what you have done but just as a means of starting a conversation.
Buen Camino and God Bless!
Jen

 

[VNwalking]

Jen, what a lovely post--one that will probably spark a lively discussion.
So much of what you say is deeply true--about dropping expectations, about attitude, and of how your journey has already begun.
No need to know why--just know you are called and trust that. The answers will come.
About these questions, the big ones as well? The way I see it is that when we as pilgrims just settle back into the walking--holding the questions in our hearts--we live our way into the answers. So to start your physical journey with a huge question mark is a wonderful beginning. Come with an empty cup and it will be filled to overflowing. If it's full of ideas...well, there is no space for anything more to come in. A big part of prayerful attitude is simply listening.

That's what I think, just one view. I'll be interested to know what others here have to say--there is a lot of wisdom to be had here.
[Edited for spelling]

 

[nycwalking]

I arrived at pilgrim office in Santiago, Sep 3, 2001 I was told I was not a pilgrim. Although, I had started in Roncesvalles I did not walk last 100 kms, time constraints. I took a bus--did not know you had to walk last 100 kilometers. I took train back to Sarria, received Compostela Sep 9, 2001, and was standing on train platform with my mom leaving Santiago September 11, 2001 at the same time WTC was imploding, that is when my camino, my pilgrimage truly began. I live in NYC. Often on way to work, I would stop at Sbarros eatery in WTC, purchase cheesecake for lunch, then walk to work. So, 2002, I decided to walk SJPP-Fisterra to: thank God I was not in city on 9/11, accept situations as they came, trust the people who crossed my path, and give back by becoming a hospitalera. In San Juan de Ortega, the priest giving a tour of the church said we pilgrims must remember we are all called to the camino. He reminded us many people would like to walk but never will for various and sundry reasons so appreciate the way. In Granon, where I met the priest who doles out hospitalero assignments he asked me what I wanted or felt called to do with my life professionally/vocationally. I hemmed and hawwed, half-answered. He kept asking. Finally, I told him. He was quiet for a moment then told me to read the book of Jonah. I was not happy about that. There was some veracity to his observation. Each pilgrimage 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2014 have been chock full of blessings, miracle-a-day moments, I'd have to write a book to enumerate them. I see miracles in my: real, regular, everyday life. But, on the way somehow those miracles are illuminated.... I walk to see what miracles via people, places, things, or ideas I will both receive and give, enjoy the great outdoors, and slow life down.

 

[JenD]

How our world was changed that day!

I'm a graduate student in theology - I must read Jonah!

Shalom!

 

[C clearly]

@nycwalking , I agree with most of what you say. However, this statement might have been a little off the mark...

I was told I was not a pilgrim. Although, I had started in Roncesvalles I did not walk last 100 kms, time constraints.

You did not qualify for the compostela paper that time. That does not mean you were not a pilgrim!

@JenD - I wonder if you are trying too hard to be in control of your camino.

 

[Waka]

My wife asked me why I was doing the camino again because she couldn't understand why I wanted to go off for 6 weeks or so and just walk, I had no answer to the question, only to say that I don't know why I'm going, but I have to go. Does that make sense?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I was told I was not a pilgrim

While I was not there and certainly do not know the exact words that were used in English or Spanish, I have to respectfully suggest that they did not say that! You did not qualify for a compostela because of the rules in place, but even the five to ten million visitors to Santiago who arrive by car are pilgrims.

 

[VNwalking]

I don't know why I'm going, but i have to go. Dopes that make sense?

Totally, Waka. Anyway, even if we think we know why we go, the Camino usually shows us reasons and questions we didn't even know to ask, right? Speaking for myself...
So:

we live our way into the answers

 

[Waka]

Totally, Waka. Anyway, even if we think we know why we go, the Camino usually shows us reasons and questions we didn't even know to ask, right? Speaking for myself...
So:

Very good point.

 

[Tia Valeria]

While you prepare physically you can also be preparing spiritually, they are not mutually exclusive IMO.
You might find some helpful info on the CSJ site here where there are two booklets mentioned, under Spiritual preparation, plus other links.
Another resource is 40 days (meditations for the week leading up to the pilgrimage and for the time taken plus days in Santiago). We had the full print out at home but took a copy without photos on the Camino to save space and weight.
The search for this last, to check it was still available, also gave me this (Spiritual Lessons on the Camino) on Amazon; no comment as I have not read it but it might be helpful too.
Buen Camino

 

[timr]

Yesterday I had my monthly meeting with my spiritual director. I told her that I had booked my flight for the Camino for this coming June. She then asked me "why are you doing it" (walking the camino). I could not come up with an answer right away because I have not spent enough time really pondering that question. She again asked "why are you doing it?" and I mumbled something like "to figure out what's next in my life" blah, blah, blah. The question has been on my mind ever since our conversation yesterday and I have realized that I must devote most of my preparation to be towards a spiritual end. From reading the accounts of others, whether here on the forum or from books I have read, I realize that one cannot set expectations for what will happen on the Camino in any psychological or spiritual way. One must be open to what the Camino will provide. At the same time I feel I need to approach this experience in a prayerful way - and my experience has begun, my Camino has begun here at home. I have decided that any reading I do will be along these lines. I think I have read enough about blisters, wicking underwear, and the like. I'm curious what others think, not so that I can do what you have done but just as a means of starting a conversation.
Buen Camino and God Bless!
Jen

@JenD I enjoyed your post. I find it helpful to distinguish the practical preparation from the 'other' preparation. I remember preparing for my first trip and reading (especially here) loads of advice about bags and shoes and socks and weight and water and walking poles and etc. And finally deciding that there was a law of diminishing returns. A certain amount of information is useful: pack as lightly as possible. Try to find clothes that dry quickly. Get comfortable shoes. Be prepared to shed excess items in the first week. That's it really! I stopped making any changes in my planning six weeks or so before I left. It is not an interplanetary expedition!! It is a walk in Europe, rarely more than 10 miles from some sort of major settlement! With shops. And food outlets.
And then, in a strange way, I think that applies to the spiritual side as well. Yes, it is a kind of withdrawal in one way from everyday life, like going on retreat. And yet it is very much grounded in everyday life. The simplicity of walking one step after another. Along roads where other people are getting on with daily life. It is elemental and ordinary, in a good sense.
I enjoy reading lots of people's experience of their own walk. I am not sure looking back that I can pick out anyone else's journey which really helped or informed my own.
I like what @Viranani says above

Come with an empty cup and it will be filled to overflowing. If it's full of ideas...well, there is no space for anything more to come in.
...A big part of prayerful attitude is simply listening.

And what @Waka says too.
The first time is a journey into the unknown.
I have been back seven times.
And this is what I have learned: I don't prepare at all now! I have "stuff" ready to put in the bag. I have shoes which I am wearing regularly and I keep moderately fit. I am a late packer. On occasion I have started packing at 2am to leave at 3am to go to the airport, having worked up to 8pm the night before.
Then just let go.
I come with no expectations or special questions and let what happens happen. I like walking alone. I like walking with people. I like eating alone. I like eating with people. I don't plan. And it works. And somehow what needs (in retrospect) to happen, happens.
I happen to be visiting Brazil at the moment and what comes to mind are words I remember from many years ago by Dom Hélder Câmara, one of the great Brazilian bishops from the "glory days" of Liberation Theology:

Go down
into the plans of God.
Go down
deep as you may.
Fear not
for your fragility
under that weight
of water.
Fear not
for life or limb
sharks attack savagely.
Fear not the power
of treacherous currents
under the sea.
Simply do not be afraid.
Let go. You will be led
like a child whose mother
holds him to her bosom
and against all comers is his shelter. (1974)

I try.
Buen Camino

 

[VNwalking]

Then just let go.
I come with no expectations or special questions and let what happens happen. I like walking alone. I like walking with people. I like eating alone. I like eating with people. I don't plan. And it works. And somehow what needs (in retrospect) to happen, happens.

Let go. You will be led
like a child whose mother
holds him to her bosom
and against all comers is his shelter.

Thank you for your beautiful and wise words, Tim. And for this powerful poem. We might use different language but I totally 'get' it.
(I love this forum. We walk our different walks and live our different lives but sometimes it comes together and we speak with one voice.)

 

[David]

Hello Jen - good question, good post. We are limited in how we can respond due to forum rules re religion. etc.

The truth is, Jen, no one knows why they go on Camino as a pilgrim. Oh, sure, people make up reasons in their heads but those reasons come after the 'call' to go, not before. If it was just a long walk people would step out of their door and go for a long walk - but Camino is not just a long walk..

So the answer to 'why' is 'we don't know' ... something happens .. we see a scallop shell, hear about it on tv or radio, overhear two people talking about it ... most of us forget exactly when and where we really first heard about it ... and then ... well something odd happens, it just sorts of sits in our heads and grows and nags and nags and nags until we give up and go on Camino. To me it is simple, it is God calling. To the agnostic or aetheist I am not sure how they describe that call - for it is a call.
And the thing is - you will not find "answers" on the Camino, not at all, as it is not about answers it is about acceptance and no longer asking, about learning that it all just 'is'.
Jen, no one knows what this reality is, where it is, how it is. No one knows who they are, where they are, how they are, why they are .... it all just is.
It is the most awe inspiring riddle - and we inhabit it! We move through this energy as fish, made of water, swim through water - we live, breathe, have our thoughts, within it all - and we have no idea what it is or what we are!

and then - we have two minds .. the frontal chattering mind (the one that is afraid and dominant and loud and scared and desires certainty) and the other mind, the true mind, the real you ... it is silent and calm and deeply joyful in its own quiet way ... if you allow this 'you' to wake up a little it will do a lot of observing, you become a watcher ... the main thing you watch is the frontal chattering mind raving and chattering and lying to itself and inventing reasons and causes for everything and demanding certainty, it wants control .. and really, well although you may not realise, the poor thing is terribly scared, like a small child in a big universe - it is scared. It is that mind that wants the answers - not the other mind, the real you, because that one is intimately connected with everything that appears to exist and that one is not afraid and it does not find the need to have answers as it poses no questions - it just 'is'.

So - sorry for the ramble - now, you might find superficial answers - I don't like my job I will change it, same with partner, town, lifestyle, etc ... but these really are just window dressing ... the answer is that the real you wants the opportunity to step out of the mad fairground and just be, in that sense you have been calling yourself! - and if you surrender into that just being on Camino then your life will change forever (though your spiritual director might find herself out of a job).
Oh sure, all the same things will manifest, the world will go on exactly as it does, and you will deal with all of it as it happens, you just may find that you are no longer emotionally controlled by it, no longer attached to it - which I see as a pretty good thing, don't you?

All of the above, of course, is just my personal opinion - I make no claims to a truth that others disagree with.

So, Jen, go out there, take the step off the cliff and go out there .. switch your phone off, don't listen to music, don't take books - all those things just divert you from being with you, listening to you - go, enjoy. Buen Camino!!

 

[VNwalking]

I love it when Tim and David get going!
Thank you both.
David may I please use this line? It's priceless, especially the bold part--a perfect description in two small words.

...the opportunity to step out of the mad fairground...

 

[Marion-SantiagoInLove]

Hi JenD
What a nice post! I agree, your Camino already started and preparations are not just about material stuffs and psychological worries.

I believe one finds many "because" before, during and after the pilgrimage, most of them having their source in the mind. But answering a call is the best answer there is, however mysterious it is. Hearing and answering such call, this is to me very close to many stories in the Bible: all the times God is calling someone, whom is then simply answering and going for it... Again, however costly, weird or mysterious the call and/or request may be!
To me, a pilgrimage is engaging a conscious spiritual journey. It's devoting time, heart and soul to a spiritual dimension and so, it's an opportunity to "easily" bring spirituality into our material daily life (meaning easier than in our daily life, in which our concerns don't leave as much room for spirituality) and transcend it.
Such journey may lead you to live a "mystical" experience. It's not something one can plan or expect to experience, but in case it happens to you, I invite you give it some thoughts... I don't think one can't really prepare for it, but when it comes, it's pretty intense and confusing. I'd say it's opening yourself and eventually stepping into the heart of God (and realizing it's you're rightful place).
Also, even if it may sound strange as you've barely started yet, I suggest you do consider your pilgrimage as a whole. Going to Santiago and reaching it, but also as coming back from it! Returning to "normal" life is part of any journey and maybe its hardest part. It's a stage when one integrate and apply what has been learned... I feel it easier to return now I consider it before I go!
Of course, the Bible is a great reading! Paulo Coelho come to my mind, with "The Alchemist": imo, a much better tale of a pilgrimage than "The Pilgrimage". There is the Russian anonymous "Way of a Pilgrim" too (also called "The Pilgrim's Tale"). If you're opened to non-Christian traditions, there are also "After the Ectasy, the Laundry" of Jack Kornfield; the "Book of the Unveiling of the Effects of the Voyage" by Ibn 'Arabi or "Walking" by Thoreau. And so many others...!
And yet, like it's been stated before, best to go with no expectations!

I wish you a nice preparation, then a Buen Perigrinacion!

 

[Lydia Gillen]

Hi Jen,

Feeling the call of the Camino is reason a plenty for going. How can we possibly put into human words what is so far above our understanding?

The God who calls us is a God of the present moment. "I Am who Am". On the Camino we are so often forced by circumstances into the present moment. Perhaps the best possible preparation is to strive to live fully in each present moment.

Buen Camino

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

Just stopped for a quick browse through the Forum before I go to bed... the best laid plans etc...

The truth is, Jen, no one knows why they go on Camino as a pilgrim. Oh, sure, people make up reasons in their heads but those reasons come after the 'call' to go, not before. If it was just a long walk people would step out of their door and go for a long walk - but Camino is not just a long walk..

Exactly! The 'call' awakens something deep within our Being and will not let us rest until we take that first step onto the Way... and then we can forget about ever going back to sleep again...

And the thing is - you will not find "answers" on the Camino, not at all, as it is not about answers it is about acceptance and no longer asking, about learning that it all just 'is'.

Thank you so much for your ramblings, David. My post-Camino era continues to be touched and informed so much by having answered that persistent 'call' and venturing out onto the Way. I have struggled these past weeks trying to come to terms with the suicide of a friend and especially with having missed him during our desperate search while he was still alive. Your words have reminded and reinforced that there are no answers to Life's Rilke-questions, just acceptance of what is.

I should be content
to look at a mountain
for what it is
and not as a comment on my life.….
David Ignatow: News of the Universe

...and to respond to the OP - a beautiful and earnest post, thank you. Your Camino preparation is certainly broad on so many levels but try not to overthink it:

And then, in a strange way, I think that applies to the spiritual side as well. Yes, it is a kind of withdrawal in one way from everyday life, like going on retreat. And yet it is very much grounded in everyday life. The simplicity of walking one step after another. Along roads where other people are getting on with daily life. It is elemental and ordinary, in a good sense.

Buen Camino and prepare to be surprised!

 

[movinmaggie]

Jen, what a lovely post--one that will probably spark a lively discussion.
So much of what you say is deeply true--about dropping expectations, about attitude, and of how your journey has already begun.
No need to know why--just know you are called and trust that. The answers will come.
About these questions, the big ones as well? The way I see it is that when we as pilgrims just settle back into the walking--holding the questions in our hearts--we live our way into the answers. So to start your physical journey with a huge question mark is a wonderful beginning. Come with an empty cup and it will be filled to overflowing. If it's full of ideas...well, there is no space for anything more to come in. A big part of prayerful attitude is simply listening.

That's what I think, just one view. I'll be interested to know what others here have to say--there is a lot of wisdom to be had here.
[Edited for spelling]

Like, like, like

 

[Texas Walker]

Yesterday I had my monthly meeting with my spiritual director. I told her that I had booked my flight for the Camino for this coming June. She then asked me "why are you doing it" (walking the camino). I could not come up with an answer right away because I have not spent enough time really pondering that question. She again asked "why are you doing it?" and I mumbled something like "to figure out what's next in my life" blah, blah, blah. The question has been on my mind ever since our conversation yesterday and I have realized that I must devote most of my preparation to be towards a spiritual end. From reading the accounts of others, whether here on the forum or from books I have read, I realize that one cannot set expectations for what will happen on the Camino in any psychological or spiritual way. One must be open to what the Camino will provide. At the same time I feel I need to approach this experience in a prayerful way - and my experience has begun, my Camino has begun here at home. I have decided that any reading I do will be along these lines. I think I have read enough about blisters, wicking underwear, and the like. I'm curious what others think, not so that I can do what you have done but just as a means of starting a conversation.
Buen Camino and God Bless!
Jen

My answer to this one: "El camino se planta una semilla in mi corazon." There is grace in the walking, especially if you don't gab all the way. There is also grace to be found in saying the Rosary every night before sleep. Even if you fall asleep in the middle and wake to finish the rest in the middle of the night!
Buen camino, fellow pilgrim.

 

[Texas Walker]

My wife asked me why I was doing the camino again because she couldn't understand why I wanted to go off for 6 weeks or so and just walk, I had no answer to the question, only to say that I don't know why I'm going, but I have to go. Does that make sense?

Yes. You are called. There is more for you to discover. We know a professor who can't understand why we would go to Santiago twice. He doesn't understand the whole point of the Camino--it's not merely "I was there" and ticking the invisible list. It's about the--for lack of a better word--retreat the Camino becomes as you go.

 

[movinmaggie]

As I have written (perhaps too often), my walk was 'planned' as a way to celebrate a birthday milestone, but morphed into one of total gratitude and discovered so many Camino Angels, I stopped counting. Wonderful post Jen.

 

[Tia Valeria]

She then asked me "why are you doing it" (walking the camino).

As an answer to your spiritual director, maybe the words of an Italian lady we met this year on the Primitivo could sum it up.
She said, 'Why are we walking to Santiago? Because we love Jesus'. She was so happy to be there with some of her family, I can still see her smile.

 

[GeorgeP]

I lost count of the number of friends and acquaintances who asked the 'why' question before I set out on my first pilgrimage. There were so many that I actually alternated my response, having decided upon four separate answers each tailored to a different audience. None were fabrications but none told the whole truth of why I wanted to do this thing. Now, with a bit more than three months until I return, the 'why' question has returned. But this time I'm better prepared to answer. I simply tell then that I walk because I must. Put simply, there would be a large piece of myself that would be missing if I didn't make the journey. People may still look at me as if I'm a bit touched but I feel that I've answered the question fully and to the best of my ability.

 

[timr]

I lost count of the number of friends and acquaintances who asked the 'why' question before I set out on my first pilgrimage. There were so many that I actually alternated my response, having decided upon four separate answers each tailored to a different audience. None were fabrications but none told the whole truth of why I wanted to do this thing. Now, with a bit more than three months until I return, the 'why' question has returned. But this time I'm better prepared to answer. I simply tell then that I walk because I must. Put simply, there would be a large piece of myself that would be missing if I didn't make the journey. People may still look at me as if I'm a bit touched but I feel that I've answered the question fully and to the best of my ability.

That reminds me very much of lines from Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a young poet:

“Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.

This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple “I must,” then build your life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse. Then come close to Nature. Then, as if no one had ever tried before, try to say what you see and feel and love and lose..."

If you change the word "write" to "walk" it is very much the same idea.

 

[Sixwheeler]

"Because I want to."

 

[Purky]

I struggled with the "why walk" question a bit myself before I began. Once I had started, that struggle never bothered me again. Most of the other questions I had before I left also turned out to be mostly irrelevant. They are all questions that are born out of and fed by the mad fairground David so correctly referred to.
People that ask me the "why walk" question now get a question back. Why wouldn't I walk to Santiago, or anywhere else for that matter? Why wouldn't I find stillness in motion? Walk back to the world and be a breathing and living part of it? Now I struggle when I can't walk.
Not all those who wander are lost. Far from it. In my (humble) opinion those who don't wander are.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Very many pilgrims never find an answer to that question.

 

[AML]

Thanks for your post David, your words resonate with me greatly.☺

 

[Mark Lee]

I've never asked anyone why they walked the Camino. I just figure they are doing it for the same reason I was, and that is because I wanted to. When I learned of the Camino for the first time I immediately knew I wanted to walk it, and was going to do it one day.
The first time I walked it I never discussed it with any family members as I was working overseas at the time. I just went and did it after a contract ended. I had time to and Paris was just a short flight away. As far as subsequent Caminos go, I had a couple of inquiries as to why I wanted to do it again, and I would answer because I wanted to, and walking it makes me happy. Brings me joy. I love those first steps out of SJPdP. So cool. A couple of hundred yards out you look ahead to where you are going and give a quick glimpse back to where you came from knowing that there's a plaza way on the other side of Spain where you will stop.
I guess my only spiritual preparation I do is when in SJPdP I go to the church there, and pray and ask for a safe and healthy pilgrimage and to take care of my family and loved ones while I'm gone. When I get to Santiago I go in the cathedral and say a prayer of thanks for a safe and healthy journey. Sometimes on the Camino I dedicate a walking day to someone I know.

 

[C clearly]

I've never asked anyone why they walked the Camino. I just figure they are doing it for the same reason I was, and that is because I wanted to. When I learned of the Camino for the first time I immediately knew I wanted to walk it, and was going to do it one day.
The first time I walked it I never discussed it with any family members as I was working overseas at the time. I just went and did it after a contract ended. I had time to and Paris was just a short flight away. As far as subsequent Caminos go, I had a couple of inquiries as to why I wanted to do it again, and I would answer because I wanted to, and walking it makes me happy. Brings me joy. I love those first steps out of SJPdP. So cool. A couple of hundred yards out you look ahead to where you are going and give a quick glimpse back to where you came from knowing that there's a plaza way on the other side of Spain where you will stop.
I guess my only spiritual preparation I do is when in SJPdP I go to the church there, and pray and ask for a safe and healthy pilgrimage and to take care of my family and loved ones while I'm gone. When I get to Santiago I go in the cathedral and say a prayer of thanks for a safe and healthy journey. Sometimes on the Camino I dedicate a walking day to someone I know.

Yes, it is as simple as that!

 

[Marion-SantiagoInLove]

What a nice thread
Thinking again about spiritual preparation, it came to my mind, @JenD, that you actually can do that in a really practical way.
The Camino is not so much a pilgrimage path in the sense: with a strong Christian/Catholic/religious spirit. Without doubt, it still exists, but one has too seek it and personally reach for religious place, support and Services. In this perspective and if it's of interest for you, I'd suggest you look for places that have a stronger religious/spiritual spirit, as well as religious Services, and mark their location. I'm thinking of these places (maybe others can complete the list?):
- albergue paroquial, hospitals, abbeys, monasteries and convents in general. (sometimes it doesn't assure a religious accompanying)
- private albergue in Villamayor de Monjardin: Hogar Monjardin
- hospital de San Anton (be sure to be there early!)
- refugio San Nicolas before Itero de la Vega (same!)
- many possibilities in Carrion de los Condes
- refugio de los Templarios in Manjarin (no electricity or current water, but true spiritual experience and hospitality)
- monasterio de Samos
And once in Santiago, it's again up to each person to seek a spiritual ending. Arriving in Santiago can give one quite an anti-spiritual feeling, given its mighty touristic and commercial atmosphere. It's still a great time and there's absolutely ways to live it in a spiritual way, but landing there is still quite a shock. There's the pilgrim's Mass, of course, but note there are also more personal and individual options: smaller (and way less attended!) Masses in the chapels, private meeting/confession with priests. You'll find more information here
Happy preps to you!

 

[Remco Vogel]

Dear all,

I am planning to walk from the Netherlands to Santiago starting Easter 2017 untill about the end of july. I meditated on the question: why do I want to go? The answer I received: "I want to surrender to life / to God." I want to stop planning, try accept what comes. I think it is a metaphor for life. Does anyone recognize this?

 

[VNwalking]

Does anyone recognize this?

Ditto for many of us, I would guess. It's something people often write about when reflecting on the journey.

 

[Botaivica]

Yesterday I had my monthly meeting with my spiritual director. I told her that I had booked my flight for the Camino for this coming June. She then asked me "why are you doing it" (walking the camino). I could not come up with an answer right away because I have not spent enough time really pondering that question. She again asked "why are you doing it?" and I mumbled something like "to figure out what's next in my life" blah, blah, blah. The question has been on my mind ever since our conversation yesterday and I have realized that I must devote most of my preparation to be towards a spiritual end. From reading the accounts of others, whether here on the forum or from books I have read, I realize that one cannot set expectations for what will happen on the Camino in any psychological or spiritual way. One must be open to what the Camino will provide. At the same time I feel I need to approach this experience in a prayerful way - and my experience has begun, my Camino has begun here at home. I have decided that any reading I do will be along these lines. I think I have read enough about blisters, wicking underwear, and the like. I'm curious what others think, not so that I can do what you have done but just as a means of starting a conversation.
Buen Camino and God Bless!
Jen

Hi JenD

I also had a similar dilemma

I bought a plane ticket six months earlier and started planning my Way. At one point I asked myself "Why am I going on the Way?" After some time, I found the answer. I knew that when I was on the Way I will pray. I decided to pray every day for someone, wife, children, mother, brother, friend and enemies, living and the dead, healthy and sick ....

And I did it

And it was nice think of all those people and pray for them.

 

[JenD]

I am so overwhelmed with emotion at all of the beautiful posts! It's been a few days since I posted and snce I did so I have felt sort of a "switch" in my thinking. I have always been a "seeker" looking to find meaning in life and ways to deal with challenges. I'm an avid reader and have always thought the answer was in a book. I have read many, many awesome books that fall under the "spiritual/self-help" umbrella. Each week Oprah has someone on her Super Soul Sunday show and I always think "Ah...that person has the answer. I must read his/her book."

Well, No. As many of you have mentioned in one way or another, the "answer" is within us, put there by God. It has always been there. I have just spent too much time and money convinced that the "answer" is for sale for a bargain at Amazon!

I just feel blessed right now knowing I am on the right path (pun intended!).

I am going to take some more time to ingest all that has been offered and will respond again!
Shalom!

 

[Purky]

I can't help but think about the story by Douglas Adams in 'The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy'. Somewhere in that hilarious trilogy (in 5 parts) he tells us about the trouble an alien society had with the question of life, the universe and everything.
They eventually build a supercomputer to tackle that particular problem. After millennia of thinking and calculating, he announces he is ready and has found an answer.
The descendants of the original computer builders gather in an huge event to learn of the much anticipated answer. There the computer announces that the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything is in fact 42. He is absolutely certain. Checked it twice. 42. The technicians, who learn this before it is publicly broadcast, panic.
They get into a bit of an argument with the computer who ultimately tells them, curtly, that it might be wise to figure out what exactly the question of life, the universe and everything is.
Apart from being very funny, I also found it a surprisingly smart story. One I often think of when I can't help myself musing over life, the universe and everything. It helps me to focus and question correctly. Otherwise I'll end up with 42...

 

[Marion-SantiagoInLove]

It helps me to focus and question correctly. Otherwise I'll end up with 42...

So you found the question???
Feel like sharing and putting us out of the 42 misery?

 

[Purky]

So you found the question???
Feel like sharing and putting us out of the 42 misery?

To keep on point I gladly borrow the following from the IMHO underestimated Douglas Adams:

"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.

There is another theory mentioned, which states that this has already happened."

In the meantime I just breathe and try not to panic.

 

[Purky]

But it seems right now to share with the lovely like minded people on this forum.

Good you found the right occasion to post this very personal reflection. It is in a lot of ways an echo of my own reasons to walk, and probably also for some of the other members on this forum.
What I found out is that walking a camino (not necessarily with destination Santiago) reconnects you. Not only to yourself, but also to the world. The discipline of walking the earth eats away at cynicism, complacency, self-pity or the notion of being the centre of the universe.
In the end, if all goes well, you are left with curiosity, compassion and a sense of peace and belonging. Walking for me turned out to be a sure way of recalibrating my humanity. And, like you, I love it.

 

[VNwalking]

I do know that the Camino experience has made me more reflective, rounded, content, tolerant, kind.

Boy if that's 'all' the Camino can do, I'm grabbing it with both hands!
It easy to dismiss this as not so big a deal, but to have tolerance and kindness in all situations is rare indeed. So when the camino gives us a little taste of the sweetness of this, we keep coming back for more.

To keep on point I gladly borrow the following from the IMHO underestimated Douglas Adams:
"There is a theory which states that.....it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory mentioned, which states that this has already happened."
In the meantime I just breathe and try not to panic.

I think it's out the realm of theory at this point, Purky.
Yeah, just breathing is definitely essential.
And fortunately for keeping panic at bay, walking is good too.

 

[Purky]

I think it's out the realm of theory at this point, Purky.

There are more things in heaven and earth, VN, than are dreamt of in your philosophy...
My tongue is firmly parked in cheek, of course.

 

[VNwalking]

Ha ha ha. Oh, my...most definitely. You can take that tongue out of your cheek, @Purky!
But.....
“Are you sure
That we are awake?
It seems to me
That yet we sleep, we dream”

 

[Purky]

Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

 

[VNwalking]

Or we serve.

 

[JenD]

Grabbed a book off my shelf this morning (The Soul of a Pilgrim by Christine Valters Paintner); purchased over a year ago but had not read it. Anyway, I opened to a beautiful poem at the beginning:

"How to be a Pilgrim"

Air travel is like
ancient pilgrims walking on their
knees, flight delays and narrow seats
offer their own kind of penance.

You jettison excess baggage,
leaving behind the heavy makeup case,
knowing the rain will
wash you free of artifice.

Books you wanted to carry left too,
no more outside words needed,
then go old beliefs which keep
you taut and twisted inside.

Blistered feet stumble over rocky
fields covered with wildflowers and you
realize this is your life,
full of sharp stones and color.

Red-breasted robins call forth
the song already inside,
a hundred griefs break open under
dark clouds and downpour.

Rise and fall of elation and exhaustion,
the tides a calendar of unfolding,
a bright star rises and you remember
a loved one waiting miles away.

A new hunger is kindled by the sight of
cows nursing calves in a field,
spying a spotted pony, you forget
the weight and seriousness of things.

Salmon swim across the Atlantic,
up the River Corrib's rapids to the
wide lake, and you wonder if you have
also been called here for death and birth.

This is why we journey:
to retrieve our lost intimacy with the world,
every creature a herald of poems
that sleep in streams and stones.

"Missing you" scrawled on a postcard sent home,
but you don't follow with
"wish you were here."
This is a voyage best made alone.


Awesome!
Buen Camino and God bless!

 

[jacobusg]

el camino real
setu misma ideal
solo es interno

a graffito on the exit to Leon. (more or less as written)