Via Podiensis: A Thousand Miles

From August 18 through October 23, 2023, I walked from Le Puy-en-Velay in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain on pilgrimage to the tomb of the Apostle Saint James the Greater – Santiago.

During this pilgrimage, I walked 1,633.8 km, or just over 1,015 miles. This doesn’t count walking around and exploring the many cities, towns, and villages where I stayed. And the physical steps, of course, don’t necessarily correspond to any small intellectual, emotional, or spiritual steps taken.

I ended my Camino exactly as I begin it: walking alone in contemplation of the Lord and in conversation with Him, and thinking about all of the places and people and times where He made His presence known to me.

During the course of these ten weeks there have been many days of glorious adventure. There were also several days, a couple in the past week in fact, where this was merely something to be endured. There have been moments of sheer joy and wonder, as well as of tedium, misery, frustration, and even tears.

This is all, I think, part of pilgrimage. And not just the Camino, but these are necessary parts of our greater pilgrimage, the pilgrimage we walk on the Earth in our journey to our heavenly homeland.

Through this Camino, the Lord has showered me with a plentitude of graces. I have had powerful moments of consolation, as well as opportunities to unite my suffering to His. I have witnessed the miraculous. 

I have walked with some amazing people. They have come into my Camino, sometimes in unexpected moments, and then they have fallen out again, either because I was too fast for them or because they were too fast for me. 

We have shared our joys and sufferings together, shared both sumptuous dinners and dodgy looking snacks. There are folks I still owe a beer, and folks who still owe me a beer.

We have encouraged each other, paced each other, consoled each other, and when the occasion called for it, even questioned each other’s choices.

There have also been those along the Way who shared their stories and their faith journeys with me, and I with them: particularly Steve, Ávila, Etienne and Colleen, Tara, David, Allison, Ron, and Jordan, to name just a few. 

I have prayed for the intentions entrusted to me at every open church along the Way, and a few closed ones as well. I have left symbolic tokens and stones along the Way, both for myself and others: some family, some friends, some completely unknown to me. 

One particular moment of prayer in France stands out for me. It happened very early in my journey and set a tone for all that followed. I was in a tiny Romanesque village church chanting the opening versicle of the Liturgy the Hours in Latin, while the Assemblies of God preacher next to me sang God’s praises in his own private prayer language. It was a beautiful moment. We may have been divided by our theology and tradition, but we were united in our love for Jesus.

And through it all I have spent much time in discernment about what the Lord is calling me to next.

They say that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This was mine.

And I would add that the journey of a thousand miles also ends with a final step.

And now the only question is: now that this journey has ended, where am I stepping to next?

Date: 25 October 2023

Place: Santiago de Compostela