The Way of the Pilgrim

Between our pilgrimages, we must live in the world. We try to hang onto the Way of the Pilgrim in our ordinary lives, but like all things, the lessons fade over the years unless they are reinforced from time to time. And what are those lessons? They are as individual as the pilgrim, but there are certain commonalities, certain sayings that you internalize over the course of your pilgrimage.

And they are very Catholic lessons, Gospel lessons, though they are subtly disguised for the benefit of those who might recoil from them otherwise. The word “Catholic” or even “Christian” in the modern world can and does provoke in some folks an almost visceral negative reaction.

One is “eveyone is walking their own Camino”. You can offer advice, you can point the way if asked, but you can’t force somebody – perhaps especially yourself – into your predetermined idea of what their Camino experience should be. Think of Saint Paul being “all things to all men”.

For me, a very powerful lesson was the one I received at the end of my Camino: “Jesus said to Thomas…”

Probably the most ubiquitous of these lessons, however, is “the Camino Provides”. When faced with some difficulty or need, every Pilgrim I encountered took to heart some form of the phrase “the Camino provides”. This is, of course, only an inch away from Deus providebit – God provides.

Today, the Camino provided. God provided.

I’m in that anxious phase I get into where I worry that we haven’t been training enough (though we’ve done a lot more to date than we did at this point before our first Camino). I worry that we are going to be short on money (though I know we will make it work). Yesterday was especially bad in this regard.

And then, this morning our alarm clock didn’t go off. I woke up at the time I’m usually heading out the door.

After some moments of panicked texting to the carpool, Francine got me to the train only half an hour late.

And now, here’s the part where God reminds me that I live in His world.

Because I was half an hour late, I met a Pilgrim on the streets of Seattle. She had her shell tied to her backpack.

I greeted her with a hearty “buen Camino!” and we talked for a bit as we walked.

We only exchanged a few words about the Camino before we went our separate ways to our jobs in the city, but it was a tremendous encouragement to me this morning. It was exactly what I needed.

In the almost three years since we returned from our first Camino, this is the first time I’ve unexpectedly met another Pilgrim on the street. Because I hadn’t needed to until now.

Deus providebit.