Not sure how or if this is the best place to post this but I wrote it in a quick flurry and wanted to share it _ Bad grammar/ spelling, worts and all
The Camino - a journey
As I tidy up after another new year party with some of my kids, I am thankful for, and try to count, my blessings. Thankful I have a mess to tide up. I think back to the lessons learned on my Camino which started in St Jean Pied De Port last October and ended in Santiago De Compostela, or so I thought, before going on to Finisterre and Muxia in mid November. I have walked on the Camino to Santiago twice before; once from Saria and once from O’Cebriero, both times with friends from home, in Scotland, in parties of four. This time I set out alone, with some trepidation, that I would miss the laughter, singing and constant companionship which had made the previous trips so much fun. This time I met friends and Camino families started to form even before I left Biarritz airport and they continued to grow and evolve and shrink and grow, and the fun was as intense as it had been previously. I had opportunities, however, to walk alone, usually whenever or wherever I wanted and so from early on, the Camino talked to me. And as I climbed hills and tripped down into valleys and as the path got narrow and potentially dangerous or where it was wide and safe, I began to realise that this was just like life, with all its ups and downs, pleasures and hardships. Why had I not realised this before now? After all I had been on the Camino twice before and had read a fair amount, watched films and documentaries, but the penny had never dropped, or was I making it up? Early on on the Camino, at Zabaldica, not far before Pamplona, I was walking alone with all these thoughts, and doubts, going on in my head, when I passed a sign for the old church of San Sebastian which was up a hill, a little off the path. I arrived at the church about the same time as one or two other pilgrims and we were met by a little old Spanish lady who asked where we were from and gave us sheets of paper, in our own languages, explaining the history and points of interest about the church and village. We took the customary photos and I sat down and read the information. When I had finished I noticed I was now alone as the other pilgrims had left. I knelt down to say a quick prayer and while I was kneeling the little lady came up beside me, smiled and handed me another piece of paper. I have copied what it said here:
************************************************
The Way: Parable and reality
The journey makes you a pilgrim. Because the way to Santiago is not only a track to be walked in order to get somewhere, nor is it a test to reach any reward. El Camino de Santiago is a parable and a reality at once because it is done both within and outside in the specific time it takes to walk each stage, and along the entire life if only you allow the Camino to get into you, to transform you and to make you into a pilgrim.
The Camino makes you brother/sister. Whatever you have you must be ready to share because even if you started out on your own, you will meet companions. The Camino breeds about community: community that greets the other, that takes interest about how the walk is going for the other, that talks and shares with the other.
The Camino makes demands on you. You must get up even before the sun in spite of tiredness or blisters: you must walk in the darkness of night even while dawn is growing, you must just get the rest that will keep you going.
The Camino calls you to contemplate, to be amazed, to welcome, to interiorize, to stop, to be quiet, to listen to, to admire, to bless...Nature, our companions on the journey, our own selves, God.
*******************************************
I Hadn’t made it up, what I had been thinking was not new! By now the tears were flowing freely and I turned over the paper and read what was on the other side:
The Beatitudes of the Pilgrim
Blessed are you, pilgrim, if you discover that the camino opens your eyes to what is not seen
Blessed are you, pilgrim, if what concerns you most is not so much to arrive, as to arrive with others
Blessed are you, pilgrim, when you contemplate the camino you discover it is filled with names and dawns.
Blessed are you, pilgrim, when you've discovered that at the end of the journey the real Camino begins.
Blessed are you, pilgrim, if your backpack keeps getting emptied of things and your heart does not know where to hang up so many feelings and emotions.
Blessed are you, pilgrim, if you understand that a step back to help someone is worth a thousand steps forward without seeing what is at your side.
Blessed are you, pilgrim, if words fail you to give thanks for all that surprises you at every twist and turn in the road.
Blessed are you, pilgrim, if you look for the truth and make of your camino a life and of your life a way, in search of what is the Way (the Camino), theTruth, and the Life.
Blessed are you, pilgrim, if on your way you meet yourself and gift yourself with time, without rushing, so as not to disregard the image in your heart.
Blessed are you, pilgrim if you discover that the camino holds a lot about silence; and the silence of prayer, and the prayer of meeting with God who is waiting for you.
*********************************************************************************
I now know much of this has already been reproduced on the Camino forum and elsewhere, but it was like a bolt from the blue, a slap on the face to wake up and I wanted to share it with others. All of the above AND the real Camino begins when we get to the end! Why hadn’t I been aware of any of this before? Wait, is this modern thinking, a modern interpretation? Still some doubts, but far fewer and so much more to contemplate. But If I now had the answer I might as well go home!
I didn’t. As I met my friends again and lost some and met new friends and re found old ones; and lay awake listening to the phone alarms and pre dawn rustle of the early pilgrims; as I listened to horror stories and heartaches of my fellow pilgrims; and as we laughed and sang and prayed together, as we bandaged blisters; and treated colds and tummy bugs; and talked about the snoring and my friends smiled knowingly, ruefully at me, it slowly took shape. Only by spending the time it takes, do we get the opportunities to learn, to increase our tolerance of others, increase our own charity and generosity as we receive it in abundance, increase our respect for people and their problems we don’t even know about. Time to practice how to receive as well as give, talk as well as listen, and to deal with loss. So much of which is the woven fabric of our lives. And so we realise that if the Camino is life there has to be room for everything on the Camino because just as life isn’t perfect, neither is the Camino. So while the Camino is a gentle flow of human spirit, some religious, some not , some seeking , some not, a river of the milk of human kindness flowing towards Santiago, the losses, the litter, the graffiti and even the occasional theft, none of which we like, all have to be on the Camino. There is room for everything on the Camino, I thought, except animosity.
And still we walked on; 25 km a day or so, serving our own and our fellow pilgrims need; food , shelter, sleep, laughter, prayer, in any order we could get them, supplied by some of the most wonderful hospitaleros imaginable. Then one night our family got split up as often happens arriving at different times and stopping at different albergues, and a friend and I had dinner together with two new pilgrims we hadn’t spoken to before. As the conversation flowed one of our dinner companions become very angry about aspects of the Camino and included some religious references violently attacking the Christian nature of the Camino in particular. We were taken aback and indeed asked why he was on Camino and using religious hospitality when he was in this frame of mind.
Nothing happens by chance on the Camino, find a long lost friend, lose something you didn’t need, find something you do need. As I walked alone the next day I was troubled by the events of the previous night and, distracted, got lost and attacked by a dog off the Camino. The Camino teaches lessons: there had to be room for anger and animosity too, on the Camino. And after a miserable morning I was reunited with some of my dear Camino friends and relationships became quite friendly with the angry pilgrim who was coming to terms with his own problems.
And still we walk 25km or so a day and eventually after untold incredible events: of religious occasions; of meals with old and new friends, of laughter song and even dance we set out on the last day for Santiago and though we started alone my friend notices that there are twelve of us in a group on that day. How many churches visited, how many religious symbols, energy spirals on hill tops. All important to different people. How many crucifixes and statues to St James, how many Alpha and Omega signs to remind the religious pilgrim that “ I am the beginning and the end”. And then the walk into Santiago and arrival at the Cathedral, the formalities there and the visit to the Pilgrim Office. And the chance picking up of a small piece of paper which tells that in one place only, above the East door to the Cathedral, the column head carvings show the Alpha and Omega signs reversed and they now read Omega and Alpha: this is the end and now the beginning.
And I hadn’t made it up and it wasn’t something new – it had been carved in stone on the actual Cathedral built to welcome us, the true Camino begins at the end of the journey, and the Camino, the Journey, The Way IS LIFE.
So what was your best experience, what is your favourite memory people ask. Well pretty much everything above about the Journey and finding the reversed symbols, but I expect they mean a simple event like swimming in the Atlantic at Muxia; a chance encounter; finding a lost friend; that epic lunch in Viana; which of the many, hilarious, dinners with a multitude of nationalities; prayers in the candle lit choir loft, in the bell tower donativo albergue, in Granon; reading messages from past pilgrims in an attic chapel with Santi in Tosantos; a certain football team from Scotland beating the mighty Barcelona the night before we walked into Santiago and singing and dancing with my Barcelona friends after. Finding a bar on the last night in Santiago where only my friend and I were not locals and signing and listening to flamenco and Galician folk music till 4am? When I had met the angry pilgrim, got lost the next day and was attacked by the dog, and my four Camino angels found out what happened and they came into the cafe where I was, sat beside me, put an arm around me and said they were going to wrap me up in Camino love and not let me go for the rest of the Camino – I think I’ll settle for that as hard to beat.
And I have a T shirt which says “Nunca Caminares Solo” from Santiago – “You’ll Never Walk Alone” – does that mean in life? Will I return, I hoped so but I couldn’t say then or now for sure. A lovely Hospitalero on the Meseta was wearing a T shirt which he got in Finisterre on one of his Caminos which said “Job Done” you need to get one of these he said. I was disappointed that I couldn’t get one. But nothing happens by chance on the Camino so perhaps my job isn’t done. Perhaps I have to go back.
In the meantime thank you my fellow pilgrims for all your help, support, fun and love. Thank you to all the past pilgrims whose spirit enriches the Camino and adds to the Camino being alive. Thank you to all the hospitaleros, clergy, cooks, waiters and bottle washers who work with a smile to serve the pilgrims needs. Thank you to the Spirit which feeds the Camino and guides us. Thank you St James, whether your buried there or not, you are there now helping us. And finally thank you for reading this and when you get home - Buen Camino
The Camino - a journey
As I tidy up after another new year party with some of my kids, I am thankful for, and try to count, my blessings. Thankful I have a mess to tide up. I think back to the lessons learned on my Camino which started in St Jean Pied De Port last October and ended in Santiago De Compostela, or so I thought, before going on to Finisterre and Muxia in mid November. I have walked on the Camino to Santiago twice before; once from Saria and once from O’Cebriero, both times with friends from home, in Scotland, in parties of four. This time I set out alone, with some trepidation, that I would miss the laughter, singing and constant companionship which had made the previous trips so much fun. This time I met friends and Camino families started to form even before I left Biarritz airport and they continued to grow and evolve and shrink and grow, and the fun was as intense as it had been previously. I had opportunities, however, to walk alone, usually whenever or wherever I wanted and so from early on, the Camino talked to me. And as I climbed hills and tripped down into valleys and as the path got narrow and potentially dangerous or where it was wide and safe, I began to realise that this was just like life, with all its ups and downs, pleasures and hardships. Why had I not realised this before now? After all I had been on the Camino twice before and had read a fair amount, watched films and documentaries, but the penny had never dropped, or was I making it up? Early on on the Camino, at Zabaldica, not far before Pamplona, I was walking alone with all these thoughts, and doubts, going on in my head, when I passed a sign for the old church of San Sebastian which was up a hill, a little off the path. I arrived at the church about the same time as one or two other pilgrims and we were met by a little old Spanish lady who asked where we were from and gave us sheets of paper, in our own languages, explaining the history and points of interest about the church and village. We took the customary photos and I sat down and read the information. When I had finished I noticed I was now alone as the other pilgrims had left. I knelt down to say a quick prayer and while I was kneeling the little lady came up beside me, smiled and handed me another piece of paper. I have copied what it said here:
************************************************
The Way: Parable and reality
The journey makes you a pilgrim. Because the way to Santiago is not only a track to be walked in order to get somewhere, nor is it a test to reach any reward. El Camino de Santiago is a parable and a reality at once because it is done both within and outside in the specific time it takes to walk each stage, and along the entire life if only you allow the Camino to get into you, to transform you and to make you into a pilgrim.
The Camino makes you brother/sister. Whatever you have you must be ready to share because even if you started out on your own, you will meet companions. The Camino breeds about community: community that greets the other, that takes interest about how the walk is going for the other, that talks and shares with the other.
The Camino makes demands on you. You must get up even before the sun in spite of tiredness or blisters: you must walk in the darkness of night even while dawn is growing, you must just get the rest that will keep you going.
The Camino calls you to contemplate, to be amazed, to welcome, to interiorize, to stop, to be quiet, to listen to, to admire, to bless...Nature, our companions on the journey, our own selves, God.
*******************************************
I Hadn’t made it up, what I had been thinking was not new! By now the tears were flowing freely and I turned over the paper and read what was on the other side:
The Beatitudes of the Pilgrim
Blessed are you, pilgrim, if you discover that the camino opens your eyes to what is not seen
Blessed are you, pilgrim, if what concerns you most is not so much to arrive, as to arrive with others
Blessed are you, pilgrim, when you contemplate the camino you discover it is filled with names and dawns.
Blessed are you, pilgrim, when you've discovered that at the end of the journey the real Camino begins.
Blessed are you, pilgrim, if your backpack keeps getting emptied of things and your heart does not know where to hang up so many feelings and emotions.
Blessed are you, pilgrim, if you understand that a step back to help someone is worth a thousand steps forward without seeing what is at your side.
Blessed are you, pilgrim, if words fail you to give thanks for all that surprises you at every twist and turn in the road.
Blessed are you, pilgrim, if you look for the truth and make of your camino a life and of your life a way, in search of what is the Way (the Camino), theTruth, and the Life.
Blessed are you, pilgrim, if on your way you meet yourself and gift yourself with time, without rushing, so as not to disregard the image in your heart.
Blessed are you, pilgrim if you discover that the camino holds a lot about silence; and the silence of prayer, and the prayer of meeting with God who is waiting for you.
*********************************************************************************
I now know much of this has already been reproduced on the Camino forum and elsewhere, but it was like a bolt from the blue, a slap on the face to wake up and I wanted to share it with others. All of the above AND the real Camino begins when we get to the end! Why hadn’t I been aware of any of this before? Wait, is this modern thinking, a modern interpretation? Still some doubts, but far fewer and so much more to contemplate. But If I now had the answer I might as well go home!
I didn’t. As I met my friends again and lost some and met new friends and re found old ones; and lay awake listening to the phone alarms and pre dawn rustle of the early pilgrims; as I listened to horror stories and heartaches of my fellow pilgrims; and as we laughed and sang and prayed together, as we bandaged blisters; and treated colds and tummy bugs; and talked about the snoring and my friends smiled knowingly, ruefully at me, it slowly took shape. Only by spending the time it takes, do we get the opportunities to learn, to increase our tolerance of others, increase our own charity and generosity as we receive it in abundance, increase our respect for people and their problems we don’t even know about. Time to practice how to receive as well as give, talk as well as listen, and to deal with loss. So much of which is the woven fabric of our lives. And so we realise that if the Camino is life there has to be room for everything on the Camino because just as life isn’t perfect, neither is the Camino. So while the Camino is a gentle flow of human spirit, some religious, some not , some seeking , some not, a river of the milk of human kindness flowing towards Santiago, the losses, the litter, the graffiti and even the occasional theft, none of which we like, all have to be on the Camino. There is room for everything on the Camino, I thought, except animosity.
And still we walked on; 25 km a day or so, serving our own and our fellow pilgrims need; food , shelter, sleep, laughter, prayer, in any order we could get them, supplied by some of the most wonderful hospitaleros imaginable. Then one night our family got split up as often happens arriving at different times and stopping at different albergues, and a friend and I had dinner together with two new pilgrims we hadn’t spoken to before. As the conversation flowed one of our dinner companions become very angry about aspects of the Camino and included some religious references violently attacking the Christian nature of the Camino in particular. We were taken aback and indeed asked why he was on Camino and using religious hospitality when he was in this frame of mind.
Nothing happens by chance on the Camino, find a long lost friend, lose something you didn’t need, find something you do need. As I walked alone the next day I was troubled by the events of the previous night and, distracted, got lost and attacked by a dog off the Camino. The Camino teaches lessons: there had to be room for anger and animosity too, on the Camino. And after a miserable morning I was reunited with some of my dear Camino friends and relationships became quite friendly with the angry pilgrim who was coming to terms with his own problems.
And still we walk 25km or so a day and eventually after untold incredible events: of religious occasions; of meals with old and new friends, of laughter song and even dance we set out on the last day for Santiago and though we started alone my friend notices that there are twelve of us in a group on that day. How many churches visited, how many religious symbols, energy spirals on hill tops. All important to different people. How many crucifixes and statues to St James, how many Alpha and Omega signs to remind the religious pilgrim that “ I am the beginning and the end”. And then the walk into Santiago and arrival at the Cathedral, the formalities there and the visit to the Pilgrim Office. And the chance picking up of a small piece of paper which tells that in one place only, above the East door to the Cathedral, the column head carvings show the Alpha and Omega signs reversed and they now read Omega and Alpha: this is the end and now the beginning.
And I hadn’t made it up and it wasn’t something new – it had been carved in stone on the actual Cathedral built to welcome us, the true Camino begins at the end of the journey, and the Camino, the Journey, The Way IS LIFE.
So what was your best experience, what is your favourite memory people ask. Well pretty much everything above about the Journey and finding the reversed symbols, but I expect they mean a simple event like swimming in the Atlantic at Muxia; a chance encounter; finding a lost friend; that epic lunch in Viana; which of the many, hilarious, dinners with a multitude of nationalities; prayers in the candle lit choir loft, in the bell tower donativo albergue, in Granon; reading messages from past pilgrims in an attic chapel with Santi in Tosantos; a certain football team from Scotland beating the mighty Barcelona the night before we walked into Santiago and singing and dancing with my Barcelona friends after. Finding a bar on the last night in Santiago where only my friend and I were not locals and signing and listening to flamenco and Galician folk music till 4am? When I had met the angry pilgrim, got lost the next day and was attacked by the dog, and my four Camino angels found out what happened and they came into the cafe where I was, sat beside me, put an arm around me and said they were going to wrap me up in Camino love and not let me go for the rest of the Camino – I think I’ll settle for that as hard to beat.
And I have a T shirt which says “Nunca Caminares Solo” from Santiago – “You’ll Never Walk Alone” – does that mean in life? Will I return, I hoped so but I couldn’t say then or now for sure. A lovely Hospitalero on the Meseta was wearing a T shirt which he got in Finisterre on one of his Caminos which said “Job Done” you need to get one of these he said. I was disappointed that I couldn’t get one. But nothing happens by chance on the Camino so perhaps my job isn’t done. Perhaps I have to go back.
In the meantime thank you my fellow pilgrims for all your help, support, fun and love. Thank you to all the past pilgrims whose spirit enriches the Camino and adds to the Camino being alive. Thank you to all the hospitaleros, clergy, cooks, waiters and bottle washers who work with a smile to serve the pilgrims needs. Thank you to the Spirit which feeds the Camino and guides us. Thank you St James, whether your buried there or not, you are there now helping us. And finally thank you for reading this and when you get home - Buen Camino
