El Camino and Lifelong Development
My wife Elizabeth and I love to hike together. One of our dreams is to walk the entire Camino de Santigo in northern Spain. I’ve done two 4-day trips on the Camino with friends, and I enjoyed the camaraderie of doing it with others, in addition to the quiet space to think and pray. I genuinely appreciated both the beautiful and the barren parts of Spain’s countryside. Among the less pleasant aspects of the experience was the pain of getting onto my feet in the morning after having walked for six hours the previous day. At one point, I had to buy new shoes because my feet and knees were “rejecting” the shoes I had, probably because they were too worn. Resting in a hostel in a vast room with 20 other pilgrims was another challenge.
My experience on the Camino speaks to my relationship with God and my development over a lifetime. Galatians 5:25 is particularly significant to me and provides the name of our website and the focus of our ministry: “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Both the literal and the spiritual pilgrimage are fun and adventurous, but they are also demanding and challenging. A successful Camino pilgrimage requires intentionality, as does the pilgrimage of living in step with the God of the nations. Both journeys are better with companions!
My friend Kurt, an experienced Camino guide, led both of my Camino walks. While Kurt bore the burden of planning where we finished each day and where we slept, I had to be intentional about preparing my body many weeks ahead by walking several times a week with an increasingly heavy backpack. I had to be intentional about my gear, like shoes and walking sticks, and avoid overloading my pack. These preparations made me consider how much intentionality I put into my walk with God, my lifelong intimacy with the Father, Son, and Spirit.
I grew to value the reflective space on the Camino as I walked the miles and thought about creating reflective space in my daily life and not just waiting for my next Camino experience. I’ve learned to enjoy creating contemplative space in my daily journey with God. The metaphor of the Camino pilgrimage provides a great deal of rich insight into a person’s lifelong pilgrimage. Engage more with this idea on the In Step website, where you’ll also learn about the In Step Pathway, a resource we’ll lay out in the next several blog posts.
Elizabeth and I hope to walk the whole Camino de Santiago someday! Maybe you could join us!
We like to leave you with a song at the end of each blog post, so today, we suggest Step by Step by Rich Mullins
Check out these two movies about the Camino!
