Camino
Psalm 119:105: ”Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
The Camino de Santiago, also known as the way of St. James, is the ancient Catholic pilgrimage route to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in north-western Spain.
Legend has it that the bones of the apostle St. James were brought by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain and are buried under the site of what is now the city of Santiago de Compostela.
The Camino trail has been an important Christian pilgrimage route for over 1000 years and was considered to be one of the three pilgrimage routes on which all sins could be forgiven (Rome and Jerusalem being the other two).
There are many routes to Santiago de Compostela, starting from a variety of points, from as far away as Belgium to as close as 100km from Santiago.
The most popular route is the Camino Frances. The Camino Frances or French way starts on the other side of the Pyrenees in St Jean Pied de Port in France. This route is 798km long and passes along the top of northwestern Spain passing through large cities and ancient villages and hamlets with a wide variety of scenery along the route.
I know a number of Lutheran educators and leaders have walked some or all of particular routes, and as part of my Long Service Leave, Celia and I will be walking some of the Camino Portuguese.
Today there are a variety of reasons more than 400,000 people each year walk these various routes, but from its roots and at its heart, the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, continue to offer profound opportunities for spiritual reflection and growth.
The word Spanish word Camino is generally translated into path, road or way and can also refer to a course or journey, and there are also many analogies that can be drawn to the daily journey and experiences we have in our day-to-day lives and leadership.
As we journey into the second half of the year, I invite you to reflect upon and contemplate the following:
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 to arrive, as to arrive with others.
- Blessed are you pilgrim, when you contemplate the “camino” and you discover it is full of names and dawns.
- Blessed are you pilgrim, because you have discovered that the authentic “camino” begins when it is completed.
- Blessed are you pilgrim, if your knapsack is emptying of things and your heart does not know where to hang up so many feelings and emotions.
- Blessed are you pilgrim, if you discover that one step back to help another is more valuable than a hundred forward without seeing what is at your side.
- Blessed are you pilgrim, when you don’t have words to give thanks for everything that surprises you at every twist and turn of the way.
- Blessed are you pilgrim, if you search for the truth and make of the “camino” a life, and of your life a “way”, in search of the one who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
- Blessed are you pilgrim, if on the 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 of silence; and the silence of prayer; and the prayer of meeting with God who is waiting for you.
May God bless you and your leadership this semester.
