What is a Pilgrimage?
Saturday Morning in Madrid. This morning I got lost on Madrid’s Metro system and missed my bus to Pamplona. This messes up all of my plans and will probably delay the start of my pilgrimage by a day. What a way to start to this Camino! A costly mistake and an invitation to old patterns of self-criticism and judgement. Or maybe a wake-up call to the meaning of this experience.
In my focus to get to St. Jean Pied-de-Port, to get my pilgrim’s passport and to begin walking the Camino, I forgot that this is all part of the journey. It doesn’t start in St. Jean; I am already in the midst of it.. Sitting on the Metro platform and realizing that I was going to miss my bus is as much a part of the journey as the bliss of a beautiful sunrise on the Camino. Life is a journey and every moment is special and full of possibility and learning. How I handle the challenges and mistakes along the way are just as important as the Camino experiences. This is the journey.
Yet, there is also something special about a pilgrimage, something that sets it apart from the rest of the journey. What is this? One answer is that a pilgrimage is a practice, an intentional time set aside from the rest of life. Practices are those things we do with the intention of being changed by them. Walking the Camino has been a practice of letting go and living in the moment. There has been something very powerful in the simplicity of walking and carrying all that I need on my back. It provides a time for contemplation and lots of time for getting to know myself better.
Last year the Camino taught me a lot about taking life one step at a time and learning to trust that whatever I need will be provided, that whatever happens is just what was meant to happen and one more opportunity for learning. This morning at the Metro station, I experienced the fruits of this practice as I was able to take a deep breath and remind myself that this, too, is part of the journey and something to be embraced. When I remember that I cannot control life but I do have choices about how I respond to it, then I can let go and flow with what wants to happen. I am so grateful to be on this journey and for the preparation that my time of conscious pilgrimage has provided.
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