3 Days - Walk On

I'm going on a pilgrimage. In less than three weeks, a few of my friends and I will be walking through the fields of Northern Spain on our way to Santiago de Compostela. I've had it in mind to take this trip for a long while, and I can't think of a better time to do it and better people to do it with.

Our particular journey is the Camino de Santiago. Tradition has it that the cathedral in Santiago hosts the bones of St. James (Santiago) the Apostle, and millions of pilgrims over hundreds of years have traveled the road.

I've spent quite some time reading about the Camino and about pilgrimages in general, and there are so many amazing things to write about. Today, though, something in particular struck me about the pilgrims that have walked this road.

The End of the Road

For many of the nomads, Santiago was not the end of the road. Many pilgrims would arrive at Santiago and then walk an additional 90km to Cape Finisterre, the westernmost part of Spain. In those times, the road to Santiago was the road to the "End of the World", known to us today as the Atlantic Ocean. In those times, the Atlantic Ocean was, quite literally, the end of the world. Remember the story that we all learned when we were kids about Christopher Columbus? Columbus's journey was a big deal because he was going into the unknown. He was crazy. He was going to sail off of the edge of the world and never be heard from again.* To the pilgrims, the Atlantic Ocean represented death, the unknown, and when you walked through Santiago and on to the ocean, you came face to face with death.

And then you turned your back on it and walked away.

Going Back...

Except for rare occasions, the ancient pilgrim finished the trail, did an about face, and walked the entire thing all over again. You're only halfway there. A months-long journey just got months-longer.

There is no "end of the road" when you go to Santiago. The pilgrimage is a metaphor for life. You keep moving. You have significant moments and insignificant moments. You stub your toe. Your legs get tired. You get rained on. You feel the breeze. You see the most beautiful flowers. You get hungry.

You walk.

You keep walking.

You follow.

Today, most pilgrims that finish the trail head to the nearest bus-stop, airport, or train station and catch a ride home. That's what we are doing. You may not walk back, but you still go back. To something new. And you are new, too.

*This theory is actually false. Most Europeans and even ancient Greeks held the belief that the world was spherical. The issue in Columbus's day was not the shape of the earth, but the size of the earth. But the ocean, the end of the world, was still representative of death.