Another Camino, Another Spiritual Journey

These past two weeks, I have been on a two week, 140-mile hiking journey through Northern Spain on the Way of St. James.  I had done the same journey last time for a week and only 75 miles.  To refresh everyone's memory, this journey was a journey taken in Ancient times to the place were James is buried, which is Santiago de Compostela.  It technically starts in Saint Jean Pie de Port, France and goes all the way to the Northwest corner of Spain, a journey that typically takes a little over a month to do.  However, I only did two weeks of it because I simply just don't have a month to spend to be able to do that.

This time around on the journey, I learned so many different things.  As I began to experience life on this inward and outward journey, I began to experience something this time around that I had failed to experience all my life.  I began to notice the explosion of colors all around the Galician countryside.  The combinations of brown, green, yellow and purple that make Galicia beautiful.  I began to notice the early morning fog, the light rain, the moments of sunshine pushing its way through the clouds.  I began to experience God in a new way and it was throught the world he created.  As I walked this long journey, my mind was at peace with the world around me and God brought this small understanding of Him through his creation.

I also was able to experience the journey with fellow sojourners along the way.  People from Spain, France, Germany and even the United States.  We all had a common bond in aching muscles, strained ligaments and feet filled with blisters.  We all were on some sort of journey, both inward and outward.  We were all opened to sharing our spiritual experiences with one another.  God was truly at work in the lives of those around me to speak to me and I can only hope God used me to do the same to those around me.

Lastly, I came to grips in a small way with my own humanity on this journey.  I began to realize that even though God has done so much in me these past 11 months, but my life journey with the Lord is still not over.  I still have limitations, vices and gifts in my personality that can be obstacles at times.  However, I shouldn't focus on these things, but rather focus on loving God and what it means when God says he loves us.  I believe that comprehending how much God loves me will lead me to a greater love for him and a greater desire to do the things He has me to do.