Initiated by a 9 hour layover and a 5 1/2 hour flight delay at the JFK airport in New York, sleeping in the Madrid airport, and finally transportation by bus to the vibrant colored, narrow and historic bustling streets of Pamplona, Spain – I had acquired a new rhythm of life and a new family for the year. What were initially subtle whispers of a calling to do missionary work now had transformed into clear promptings on how to conduct daily life that the Lord had sweetly shown to be available to me. I write this sitting at a quaint ornate cafe called Namaste Cafe situated off a cobble-stoned street of the city of Estella, Spain. There is a river that runs through here that parallels the constant flow of Camino pilgrims with pack and trekking poles who race here every morning to compete for space at the few albergues allowing for lodging and rest from their travels.
Today is Sabbath, and my team is taking a day of rest to recover from some injuries already acquired from the first two days of hiking from Pamplona. We had hiked 15 miles the first day meeting a gregarious pair of music teachers from Italy, passing beautiful rolling hills, including one that was covered with gigantic sunflowers, drank cafe con leche, and had finished that day in the town of Puerto la Reina. We cooked pasta in bolognese sauce and sausage that night as a combined effort of two different teams within our squad, experiencing the camaraderie of the shared kitchen. The second day, we hiked 13 miles, with a highlight of the day including getting to know a very interesting fellow twenty-something, who had very defined social views on anti-fascism and veganism. The conversation was derived from his sleeve tattoos depicting his stances.
In the exchanges I had with the different fellow hikers of these two days, I could tell that the type of people I was walking with all had gleaned something from their life experiences to cause them to think in somewhat of a revolutionary mindset. The cello teacher from the first day discussed how important connection is and creating time for people is in a day and age filled with obsession with work and clocking in and out, going through the motions. The young man with the sleeve tattoos talked about the intimacy of the relationship between artist and client when it came to getting inked, that decisions of pairing up were made with consideration well beyond just the fancying of artistic style. There needed to be an understanding between one another correlating to the reasoning behind tattoo designs requested. I knew all these people were seeking something beyond what the current material world offered, perhaps even something sublime, which encouraged me greatly as it showed that the Camino journey was ripe with potential for the Lord to meet these new friends exactly where they were.
The Camino, in English, known as the Way of St. James, is comprised of multiple pilgrimage routes that lead to the remains of St. James, which was discovered in the ninth century. It is a Christian pilgrimage route going as far back as the Middle Ages, but now attracts hundreds of thousands of spiritual seekers of all kinds. The most popular route is the Camino Frances, which starts at St. Jean Pied de Port and runs across Spain and ends in Santiago, and is the one my squad and I are doing. The Camino Portuguese starts in Lisbon and runs on the Iberian Peninsula. The Camino del Norte runs the Spanish coastline, is said to be the most beautiful but also most difficult of the routes. The Camino Primitivo is tough in its hilliness, but a high point is its quietness. The shortest of all the routes is the English Way, starting on the Northern coast.
