Ouch!
Bristle!
Salve…
True pilgrim, please, show me your face!
Show me your hands, your feet… unzip your façade
Show me your goodness
Show me your yearning
Show me your smallness
Show me myself
I really appreciate where your sentiment is coming from, kirkie. I'd appreciate any feedback on what I am writing below. Sometimes it helps to have other viewpoints help clarify missteps in thought.
When I read that post I saw that she had qualified her thought with the words "to me". In my view, that made what she wrote not a general statement of fact as it applies to all, but a personal statement of how she thought the term 'pilgrim' applied to herself. In that regard, I didn't feel there was much of an issue. I, too, feel the same way
In other words, my internal values, thoughts and feelings have a specific definition of what a pilgrim is, and it is what leads me to approach
Camino de Santiago in a manner which is meaningful and has purpose in my life. That said, I do not waste time trying to impose my definition on anyone else. Such would not only be pointless, but would be apart from the spirit of inclusiveness which seems a value which the forum embraces.
By the same token, it seems fair that personal statements, sans impositions of such on the whole, must also be a part of that inclusive spirit. Would any less be more of a 'hive mind' which would, itself, be imposing a required standard for personal thoughts and feelings?
If someone posted that they felt that for them to be a pilgrim on Camino, they needed to paint their body purple and juggle twinkies from SJPdP to SdC, how many of us would think that strange? Would we respond by challenging their notion of a pilgrim?
Thanks for bearing with me; this topic is always a metaphysical Twilight Zone-ish kind of topic to me