Well, I'm back. A day later than expected, due to a missed flight, but back home nonetheless. And. It. Is. Glorious.
I'm going to struggle to put words to the whole Camino experience (which is why there are about 100 pictures on facebook), but for starters, let me say that it is the truest pilgrimage that I have ever done.
Before I went to Ireland two years ago, I read Strannik: The Call to the Pilgrimage of the Heart, by Catherine Doherty. She reminds us that our entire lives are a journey back to Eden, back to union with God. We are never at home in this world. From our baptism, we are strangers and sojourners on the earth, walking always back toward Heaven. This was heavy on my mind as I began my trip. All my previous international travel had been organized through a company or tour group, and I'd always been able to speak English. This time would be different. This time, more so than any other time in my life, I felt like a true pilgrim.
I was without the comforts of home--my own food, clean clothes, my native language, my own space, the ability to use my phone--and I was on a challenging road--rain, cold, blisters, soreness. I had this intense feeling of not belonging, yet when I would walk into a church, feel the sun on my face, sip a cortado, go to sleep at night, I felt at home. It's a confusing place in which to be. And I think that's exactly what we're called to live here on earth.
We do not belong to this world. This is not our home; we will not be satisfied with earthly things. And thank goodness, too, because I don't know if you've noticed, but the world is kind of imploding. So we walk along these trails, not quite comfortable, longing for something more, and that's how it's supposed to be.
One of the greatest gifts of the Camino for me was that feeling of uneasiness, that sense that I was not at home, and the ability to apply that to my spiritual life. When I feel a little out of place, it's just a reminder that we are not home yet.
