in response...

[kiwi walker]

Further to my first post, which the thread was stopped due to the poor and rather silly replies by people I considered more thoughtfull thanthey are now appear, I would like to add the following ...

I thoroughly enjoyed my Camino and met many good people.

The people whom replied seem to either have a conscious or believe they are the rule makers or above being questioned. They also did not read my post with regard to my understanding that... ''some people have good reasons to take taxi,s...'' but they should not claim the same status as people who walk there Camino by foot.

I still think any body who has walked any 100 km stage of the Camino should be able to get a compestella!... not just the last 100km... or there should be no compestella at all except for those who do the whole 700km.


Thank you moderator for pointing out and highlighting the rude replies and personal. Attacks... not becoming of people who walk the Camino I believe.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

the thread was stopped due to the poor and rather silly replies

Your post was no paragon of intellect, but I love the hubris of criticizing others.

they should not claim the same status as people who walk there Camino by foot.

I disagree.

I still think any body who has walked any 100 km stage of the Camino should be able to get a compestella

Perhaps they will let you make the rules. And it is compostela.

 

[David]

KiwiWalker, hello. I missed the other thread somehow so just had a read of it ...

although you see the replies as offensive I find that they are just a response, another point of view. Your post seemed to contain quite a lot of anger, anger about others, and I think it surprised other pilgrims on this forum as negative comparison of others and anger are not common pilgrim traits (well, not by the time they have finished their Camino!!) - though many of us have had heated disagreements on here, we are all human after all.

It is all about how we see the world, don't you think? You just cannot know the circumstances of any person you meet, which is why judging them is a great error and everyone's pilgrimage is their own - each is on pilgrimage in their own personal way - just how else could it be?

This looking at the world, how we see the people around us - we make it in our minds you know, we do it to ourselves.

Consider this - Is it alright to drink wine whilst praying? Absolutely not!!!

Well, is it all right to pray whilst drinking wine? Absolutely Yes!!

Do you see? It is how we decide - choose - to see the world. Might I suggest that you let go of those judgmental memories of your pilgrimage and focus on all the good things that happened ... the views, the dawns and sunsets, the cranes in their nests, the physical pain you endured, how you helped others along the way - you did help others along the way? - focus on the good, the kind, put all the rest down, like a heavy suitcase, and walk away from it.

I wish you well, and hope that you do not see this response to your response as in any way insulting KiwiWalker. In essence a pilgrimage on the Camino is about removing blindness of heart - we are so isolated at the beginning yet by the end we tend to be open and helpful and kind and, dare I say it? loving - it is about love, not anger.
Start planning now to go back, with a lighter pack and a lighter heart, start planning now

All is well :wink:

 

[wayfarer]

KiwiWalker expressed an opinion based on his experience of the camino, it was his opinion and if it differs from other peoples opinions then they should express their opinions--- but not by going for the juglar, it can be done in a nice and friendly manner. I have seen too many great fori over the years going by the wayside because of people wanting to impose their opinions on others in a very personal manner.
Lets keep it friendly and informational.

 

[sillydoll]

I still think any body who has walked any 100 km stage of the Camino should be able to get a compestella!... not just the last 100km... or there should be no compestella at all except for those who do the whole 700km.

Kiwi, you've got a few things mixed up in your mind.
There is no Camino trail where 'the whole' is 700km (or 800km or 500km etc). There are dozens of shorter trails in Spain leading to Santiago and remember, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from England, and further afield, used to make a pilgrimage to Santiago by sea (mostly in the Holy Years) and therefor, only walked about 80km to Santiago.

Walking the last 100km was a decision taken by the Pilgrims' Office many years ago. It has worked well so far.
The reason that they made it the last 100km is because, in their opinion, the destination - Santiago de Compostela - is the most important part of el Camino de Santiago. They make it clear on their website that 'walking the way is not the most important thing - arriving at the tomb of the saint on foot is the most important. So even if you walked 700km from St Jean and did not arrive at the tomb of the Saint on foot, you would not qualify for a Compostela.

That is the way it is.

 

[Chacharm]

Claim a status? I do not claim any status. I claim to have walked 812 km along the via Frances. That is not a status, that is a fact. I did most of that without a pack, as I sent it ahead. My reason was as "good" as anyone else': I didn't want to carry it. The reason I didn't consult with you about it is that you have nothing to do with my Camino. You have nothing to do with anyone's Camino - and they have nothing to do with yours. I took a taxi 8 km into Castrojeriz when the Albuergues were full and I couldn't walk anymore after a 38 km day. That is all of my business, none of yours. I often stayed in hotels and soaked in a bathtub at night.

That your Camino was somehow lessened by the fact that some people took a taxi for this or that bit, or sent their pack ahead and made your Camino more meaningful and genuine than their Camino is patently ridiculous and hugely insulting.

You came to this forum and told every person on here who did either of those things that their Camino was false, that they "cheated" and that they are "lazy".

I am not sure which post the monitor was referring to when he locked the thread and said that the forum doesn't allow personal attacks. I hope he meant YOUR'S. Because as far as I can tell, MY post was a defense against a personal attack on one of the events of my life of which I am most proud. It was, I hope, meant to convey to you the wrong headed-ness of your attitude toward your fellow peregrinos and to your strange ideas concerning the "rules" of the Camino.
The rules are that you have to walk the last 100 km to the tomb of St James. Period. It is not a race. It is not a competition, it is not a penitent's march. It is a time for exploration of your inner and outer worlds. A time to see the other people from an entirely new perspective...and hopefully open up new facets of your own character. That you spent your time angry about the lazy cheaters and feeling superior to your fellow peregrinos tells me that you missed out on the best parts of the Camino. And that is too bad.
But it still does not give you the right to belittle my experience, nor to define it in your own harsh terms.

 

[sillydoll]

It is quite interesting how different people form personal views on the 'right way' to do a Camino.

In her book "PILGRIM STORIES on and off The Road", Nancy Frey quotes a Dutch pilgrim in her 7th year of making the pilgrimage, two weeks at a time, who believes that pilgrimage is "a journey of leaving and returning home, of walking and subsequent reflection."
She criticised pilgrims who made the journey in one go because, "they are unable to absorb and understand all that it offers in the moment'."
She suggested that they were pilgrims only while they were walking on the road, thus diminishing the effects of the pilgrimage.

 

[grayland]

Geez People.

The original thread was locked due to the nature of the personal attacks.
The OP chose to ignore the closure and reopen the thead here.
It is again closed.
Please do not reopen the subject in another thread.

Kiwi Walker....you have a private message.