Shepherd of Faith

Processing the journey – what I’ve been doing for the past two months. I’ve been home almost two months now since my Camino journey and it’s taken me quite a bit of time to process it all and submit to my reality. I miss the adventure, the challenge and the awareness. I especially miss the lack of distraction. On the Camino, it was so easy for me to stay Christ centered – focused on God every step of the way. For me, it was all I had to make it through the day.

Each day presented new challenges for us. Whether it was the distance, the terrain, the weather, the food or lack thereof, each day was different and each day was difficult. Despite the difficulty we remained focused on the destination – each day a little closer to our goal. There was no worry about work or anything else that causes us stress or anxiety in our days. There was only the Camino and God!

Whenever I felt pain, exhaustion or discouragement, I found myself calling out to God for help. I prayed a lot and was willing to endure whatever the challenge of the day was for the intentions of those I carried in my heart.

Although many people make it the entire 478 miles to Santiago de Compostela, many do not. As a matter of fact, one of our companions did not make it to the end. While we all suffered with blisters, pain and exhaustion, the only difference between the two of us that completed the journey and the one that did not was our foundation – the foundation we call Christ, our strength, our rock our salvation!

A metaphor for life

My traveling companion and I realized on the journey that the Camino is a metaphor for life. You have your good days and bad days, ups and downs, but somehow, some way you’re able to persevere. We believe Christ is the reason. When you surrender all you have and all you are to Him, the results are amazing.

As I ponder the lessons learned (which I’ll post about separately) I’m inspired to apply them to my life as I journey on in my reality. While it’s true that I now have to make a conscious effort to remind myself of the lessons, I continue with the Camino mindset of placing Christ in the center of it all.

When I fret over work decisions now, I’m reminded of my days on the Camino when I fretted over my blisters and wondered how I would ever make it to Santiago. I prayed, I remembered Christ carrying the cross, His time in the garden of Gethsemane and His total surrender to His Father – Our Father!

When I am exhausted with responsibility or in physical or emotional pain, I’m reminded that this too shall pass and that I’m not alone. He is at my side. The intensity with which I felt His Presence on the Camino was not exclusive to that place, it’s available to me here and now. Focus is everything! It’s one of the things I learned. Pain intensifies when we focus on it. If we turn our attention to something other than pain, then suddenly the pain seems non-existent. Just the same, God’s Presence intensifies when we focus on it!

His grace

I learned many things on the Camino, but a few things I learned about myself : only by the grace of God am I faithful, am I strong – ONLY BY THE GRACE OF GOD! So, as I lay in bed this morning, a revelation: always remember and apply the Camino experience to your everyday life. While at work, call on God for courage and guidance; while at home call on God for patience and love; in the midst of turmoil, in sickness and in health, rely on your faith and surrender to God’s will. And just when you think you can’t endure, remember to beg for His grace. His grace is ENOUGH! God bless you!

P.S.: in the coming days and weeks I’ll be posting reflections on the lessons learned and things I was grateful for while away. Some new, some old – so I apologize in advance to those of you who followed my photo journal because you’ve read some of them already. Just try to view them with a new set of eyes! Peace!

The pilgrimage before the pilgrimage! Who knew? Several months ago I agreed to endeavor to walk the Camino de Santiago or The Way of St. James – a pilgrimage that would take me at least 30 days to complete if I walked 17 miles a day. The idea sounded awesome. I knew it was going to be a holy experience – one that would certainly allow me to grow closer to God. It was going to be an adventure and one that would give me the opportunity to travel to other parts.

Never once in all my plans and training did I ever think I’d be tested the way I have been tested these past few months. Anyone who knows me, knows I am always up for a good adventure and that I like seeing new things. So how do I explain the panic, the anxiety and the debilitating fear I experienced up until the day I was to leave?

Just two or three days before my departure I was given the grace to understand that my prep was a pilgrimage before the pilgrimage – a journey all its own. In the midst of it all, I often thought of the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary and its fruit. I wondered if I was expected to undergo the agony, the scourging, etc. before I could persevere. I likened my experience to a load of laundry in a washing machine. I felt like I was going through the wash cycle, being tossed about here and there. It was almost as if I was being purified in order to see the big picture – that God is with me always and there’s no need to fear. The more I remembered that truth, the more courageous I became.

This pilgrimage is definitely a lesson in patience and endurance, a lesson in letting go and stepping out of my comfort zone with the knowledge that God will lead the way – all one has to do is trust.

So I continue to trust in God and where He is leading me. I look forward to persevering in my walking and returning to my life a changed soul.

God bless you!