God and Men

We’ve made excellent progress the past two days through the undulating farm and forest lands of Galicia. We’ve certainly had our share of weird weather en route, from sudden hailstorms to today’s gale-force winds, but overall it’s been sunny and cool.

In my experience so far, there are three basic kinds of people walking the Camino: pilgrims, tourists, and hikers.

Most people, of course, have all three tendencies at some point or another, but they tend to revert to type eventually. One hopes that all will become pilgrims in the end.

Early on in the Camino, pilgrims predominate, with hikers probably coming in second. Since Sarria, however, we’ve been overwhelmed by all three in (as far as I can tell) roughly equal numbers. It’s kind of a shock to the system.

I should explain about Sarria.

The Cathedral in Santiago only issues a Compostela certificate to those who have walked at least 100 km. Sarria is the town closest to the 100 km milestone, so the vast majority of those walking the Camino start there.

On an average day, you might see 40 to 50 pilgrims, more in the cities. In the last two days since Sarria, we’ve regularly seen groups of 40 pilgrims. For the first time, it’s crowded here. The albergues are full.

We’ve seen German walking clubs, Scottish tour groups, and American day-hikers. The entire tenor and tone of the Camino has changed.

They’re all fresh-faced and eager, with not a smudge on their new day packs and no mud on their shoes. They’re boisterous and they walk fast, carrying their poles rather than using them.

Some of the Germans even have pressed pants.

As I said, quite a shock to the system.

Meanwhile, my body broken by Navarre and Rioja and my mind broken by the Meseta, I am exquisitely conscious of my soul being built up in Galicia.

For one thing, churches are open. For some reason, in Castille y León, it was impossible to find an open church. Here, it’s very different.

For another thing, I’m seeing representations of the Blessed Sacrament everywhere – it’s depicted on the coat of arms of Galicia. Every place sign, every government or tourist office, every trash can, has it.

At first, it was difficult not to resent the people I’m meeting now, but this morning I realized it’s the parable of workers in the vineyard, and my attitude turned around immediately.