One Year Ago: the Way

The way that can be walked

is not the eternal Way.

(Lao Tsu)

Santiago de Compostela

Feast of Saints Philip and James

That last day was busy. After breakfast, we caught a taxi to the bus station to secure our tickets for Madrid. We spent some hours in and around the Cathedral. Then a little shopping. Confession, and then noon pilgrim’s Mass at the Cathedral. Second breakfasts and lunches and drinks with many old friends. The bus to Madrid left at at 9pm.

The Cathedral in the early morning light

The High Altar

Lana, David, Radek

One of many, many side altars in the Cathedral. Walking through them is like taking a history of art and architecture course, as each one seems to be from a different century.

The Apostle’s Crypt

View from the Cathedral’s portico

Me, Carlos, Charlie, Eamon – reunited!

Santiago and Francine

Viola

God’s communications with us humans are often subtle. As the Prophet Elijah discovered, the Voice of God is often to be found in the whispering wind (1 Kings 19:11-13).

Sometimes, however, God reaches out and whacks us upside the head, either physically or mentally.

Often times, I tell people of points in my life where God spoke to me in one way or another, and the immediate reaction from them is doubt. They suspect embellishment or coincidence. Or in one memorable case, hallucination.

Don’t get me wrong; a healthy dose of skepticism is a good thing by and large, but at some point you veer off from skepticism and right into making excuses for your disbelief.

I’m as guilty of that as anyone. Some days I can hear God on the whispering wind; some days I need a whack upside the head.

The object of the Camino is the tomb of the Apostle Saint James the Greater in the Cathedral dedicated to him in the city named after him, Santiago.

Everybody walks the Way for different reasons. I walked with Christians, with Atheists, with those seeking wisdom or answers or direction, and with those just out for a nice long hike.

At different points of the Way, I suppose everybody finds some answers, but these inevitably lead to more questions. At least for me.

I had prayer intentions for the pilgrimage, but mostly I was there seeking a certain spiritual clarity that typically eludes me in the bustle and busyness of the modern working world.

By the time we got to the end, I had learned quite a bit, and I’m still unpacking the experience. I remember sitting in the crypt, kneeling in front of the tomb of Saint James the Apostle and asking, “now what?”

The pilgrimage was over, the Way was walked. What now? I had finished the Way, and I was already missing it.

Apparently, God decided that He wasn’t going to be subtle this time.

We went to the Pilgrims’ Mass at the Cathedral. This is the feast of two more Apostles, Saints Philip and James the Less. The Gospel reading for this Mass is from the fourteenth chapter of Saint John’s Gospel. It begins:

Jesus said to Thomas, I am the way and the truth and the life.

Sure, you say, “that’s just a coincidence, the reading mentioning ‘Thomas’ and ‘Way’ on the day you just happen to end your pilgrimage, Thom”.

Right.

I may be a little thick, but I know the Voice of God when I hear it. Usually.

The Way isn’t done – the Way continues forever. The Way isn’t just a walk, the Way is Christ.

Now that I’ve finished the Way to Santiago, my call is to continue walking with Christ, the Way and the Truth and the Life.

So, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted in him and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

(Colossians 2:6-7)

Goodbye for now! We will return to the Camino.

Photos from day 32.

I also used some of Francine’s photos, since at some point today I had to recharge my camera.

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

(J.R.R. Tolkien)