Three reasons to go on pilgrimage; you may have more

[Caminando]

1 The Mayan calendar says the world will end in 2012. That's one reason.

2 A US preacher, (forgot his name,) promises that the world will end this May 21st. Then, he says,
all those who believe in the Bible in the way that he does will be "raptured", ie will ascend into heaven, leaving the rest to their fate. This may ground all aircraft. He doesn't mention the fate of Moslems, Hindus or Buddhists so I guess they're toast. I could be OK because I will be on a camino and around Sahagun on the date. I will keep a tight hold of my credencial in case I'm raptured, tho' this is... unlikely. I believe medieval Catholicism would have called this process "translation"; I like the sound of this much more. I could go for that.

3 If, like me you help a friend with digging, weeding etc in her vegetable garden, and, like me, have mistaken young vegetables for weeds and hoed them out, then this too is a good reason to go on pilgrimage. And last year I scythed the strawberries.

I will set out on the Way....

Chaucer was a sharp cookie...

"Whenne that Aprllle withe his shourés shooté....
etc
...Menne longen gonne on pilgrimage....

 

[johnnyman]

Crap, I hope the Rapture doesn't happen in May. Of course, I won't be going anywhere, so I guess I'll still be able to do my Camino in June!

 

[nellpilgrim]

3 If, like me you help a friend with digging, weeding etc in her vegetable garden, and, like me, have mistaken young vegetables for weeds and hoed them out, then this too is a good reason to go on pilgrimage. And last year I scythed the strawberries.

...

....You scythed her strawberries and she let you into her vegetable garden again to cause more havoc and devastation :shock: ......she must be a paragon to show such tolerance. If it was my patch you'd "be wearing your ass for a hat" :lol:
As well as lighting a candles for her en route perhaps you could purchase some specialist spanish seeds as a peace offering? No one can hold a grudge when offered a little packet of optimism especially if it's got a pretty picture on the front.

 

[Caminando]

3 If, like me you help a friend with digging, weeding etc in her vegetable garden, and, like me, have mistaken young vegetables for weeds and hoed them out, then this too is a good reason to go on pilgrimage. And last year I scythed the strawberries.

...

....You scythed her strawberries and she let you into her vegetable garden again to cause more havoc and devastation :shock: ......she must be a paragon to show such tolerance. If it was my patch you'd "be wearing your ass for a hat" :lol:
As well as lighting a candles for her en route perhaps you could purchase some specialist spanish seeds as a peace offering? No one can hold a grudge when offered a little packet of optimism especially if it's got a pretty picture on the front.

Ouch!

 

[Kitsambler]

My three reasons for going on pilgrimage:
1) Adventure - it's an entirely different travel experience, and travel was different enough already
2) Art - live, raw, and never in museums. Art as a part of daily life.
3) Community - in a time when my nation is polarized and my national culture has become more isolated, I wanted to regain that sense of connection, of mutual responsibility to and for each other, as a result of shared experiences

My three reasons for not going on pilgrimage (the aforementioned overruled them, but hey, you might be looking for an excuse):
1) Expense
2) Hard physical effort
3) Fear of living with non-English-speakers

In hindsight having returned home, the three unanticipated benefits for having gone on pilgrimage:
1) No lack of conversation topics
2) Smaller dress size
3) Wonderful sense of healing peacefulness, ending the reign of several personal demons

 

[wdbillingsley]

3) Community - in a time when my nation is polarized and my national culture has become more isolated, I wanted to regain that sense of connection, of mutual responsibility to and for each other, as a result of shared experiences


3) Fear of living with non-English-speakers

I don't understand your first #3 about going. I don't feel either of those things but then I don't get too worked up about politics...you work for the best and don't worry about the rest. Some people overseas don't like the US, but many others do like the US. We walked in March and only saw one other person from the US.

As far as English goes, most everyone speaks some.

 

[TerryB]

My reasons:-
1) A move from one 'stage' of life to another (For me 'retirement' from full-time ministry)

2) Time to spend with the Lord God without too many worldly distractions.

3) Basic living!!

As for the end of the world, I gather from the Mayan Prophecies that we have until 22nd December 2012. So there is time for a Camino next summer!!
As far as the Bible is concerned the verse in St Matthew's Gospel (Chapter 24 verse 36) is the one that matters. If the angels and even Jesus Himself do not know the day and hour, there is no way that any human being can know!

Maybe this prayer says it all:-

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Blessings on your walking
Tio Tel

 

[Br. David]

There is a Royal wedding next week - good reason to get out of the uk and as far away from a television or radio as possible ....

 

[KiwiNomad06]

I had an 'intuition' about going- that it was the 'right thing'. As soon as I climbed the hill out of Le Puy en Velay and walked into the countryside I felt an intense happiness that I was hopefully going to be walking in the outdoors for many weeks.

Back home, reflecting, I now have more solid reasons why I will probably go again. There was something about the rhythm of walking, the simple routine of the days, the simplicity of belongings, the time to 'converse with God' about life- and knowing that millions have walked the same routes in centuries gone by.
Margaret

 

[colinPeter]

I think the conclusion of the poem on the wall before Najera el-camino-frances/topic800.html

The force that drives me,
the force that draws me,
I am unable to explain
Only He above knows.

Is probably the only reason many pilgrims need.

 

[evanlow]

The day I was in SDC as a tourist and after the conversation with an Austian couple that had just completed their journey, I just told myself I have to come back again... the next time the proper way. Can't explain why.

 

[dougfitz]

In 2010, I only had one - it would be an adventure, albeit one with a spiritual context. It would present physical and mental challanges, and test my stamina and endurance.

It offered the prospect of being a spiritual experience - something I expected would be also be challanging. While I may have lapsed, my Catholic upbringing is steeped in the notion that we are spriritual beings placed on this earth for a finite time before losing our physical, human form and entering some form of after-life. I didn't expect any road to Damascus experience, but I knew that I would have ample time each day to ponder about my life and its pathways, my family and friends and where I thought it might take me.

My reasons weren't overly complex, but they were part of what sustained me through some tough days early on when I could have quite happily left the Camino and come home.

The other part was that I began to realise that I was carrying the expectations and anticipation of family and friends, who would respond to my blogs and let me know they were there for me.

Then there was the support of one's fellow pilgrims - there were many small acts of kindness along the way worth remembering.

And somewhere after Najera, I began to realise that we simple pilgrims carried with us the spiritual support from the ordinary Spanish people we met along the way. It was something far beyond the financial benefit we might have brought into their community. For me, it was in the realisation that the shop-keeper who had just found me half a loaf of bread had taken it from his own kitchen, just so that I would not go hungry.

My wish for you reading this is that, whatever your personal motivations, you too will find yourself those other supports that will help you along the way.

 

[anthonyjf]

Which one of the Mayan calendars? If I'm correct they had three.

 

[nellpilgrim]

..
And somewhere after Najera, I began to realise that we simple pilgrims carried with us the spiritual support from the ordinary Spanish people we met along the way. It was something far beyond the financial benefit we might have brought into their community. For me, it was in the realisation that the shop-keeper who had just found me half a loaf of bread had taken it from his own kitchen, just so that I would not go hungry. .

It's only now, as I walk along Pilgrim routes in Germany and I reflect upon that experience, that I'm beginning to realise just how integrated pilgrims/pilgrimage is into Spanish culture along the CF and from SDC to Finisterre-(I can't speak about other Spanish routes). Now I'm not talking about Albergues, signage and fountains or all the admittedly important 'support hardware' here but those other things Doug mentions that are just as important to a pilgrim though harder to define-could one call them 'Camino software' ? Whatever one call it that cultural integration, and the recognition and acceptance of ones 'role' as a pilgrim it seems to generate, helps sustain one on the CF in a very special way. Being understood and accepted as a pilgrim-even if one personally wasn't quite sure what that was yet- by the people you met now seems to be an intrinsic and critical characteristic of the CF (and perhaps other Spanish routes?) for me anyway.
In Germany I have experienced many acts of kindness, there is plenty of opportunity for reflection-spirtual or otherwise-as one walks though beautiful environments and I'm very much looking forward to continuing the German section of my journey. I've also been an item of curiosity (benign),interest, puzzlement and in a few cases a cause of genuine concern (people wanting to put me on buses so I "could get there straight away") Having to explain ones purpose as a pilgrim (well it's fairly obvious looking at me that I'm not doing it for physical satisfaction ) was surprising. So rather than being being bourne along on that "wave of spiritual support" Doug describes so well I'm finding I'm having to 'bear witness' as a pilgrim in Germany and for me that's uncomfortable and challenging in I way I didn't expect (though I guess that's a Camino norm :? ).

 

[+@^^]

@ Margaret
nice post
i felt similar - i couldnt list the reasons why
but from the first time i heard of the camino, it just resonated deep inside me and i knew i had to go
ive often tried to "retrofit" the reasons, but my answers always came up short
.
for about the first week i cried frequently every day at the sheer beauty and magnitude and abundance and generosity of people and life
and then for the remaining 5 weeks the random acts of kindness by other pilgrims and citizens still reduced me to tears
.
for the entire walk, i felt supported by the path beneath my feet that had been trodden by thousands, and by the stars overhead that had looked over and protected all those pilgrims throughout the centuries
.
it felt like some kind of magnetic field of powerful energy
.
perhaps this sounds a bit dramatic to some who have not experienced it.....