So, here's the deal: if the Lord is willing, and the creek don't rise, on June 15th of this year, I'll leave June-gloomy Los Angeles and fly to the furthest reaches of Spain, specifically to the town of Hondarribia, across the estuary from France, where I'll join up with my parents. Early on the morning of June 17th, we bid farewell to the fair country of Spain and risk the French train system, attempting to get to the town of St. Jean Pied du Port, in the foothills of the Pyrenees.
Why? Why would we do such a silly thing as actually go to France in the first place, when Spain is clearly far superior in every possible category?
At risk of sounding sacrilegious, because of Jesus. A long, long time ago, in a country far, far away, if you were Catholic, and did something evil (really, really, really evil, not the garden variety evil), you were given the option of undertaking a pilgrimage. Specifically, you could undertake one of three pilgrimages to earn a "plenary indulgence": Rome, Jerusalem, and Santiago de Compostela, in northwest Spain.
I'm not Catholic, and generally try not to be evil, but Spain has been a big part of the life of my family for many years, and it is nigh upon impossible to spend any significant amount of time in Spain without hearing about the pilgrimage to Santiago, or the Camino de Santiago. So, this year, my parents and I are walking the old medieval pilgrimage, that is, we hope to be pilgrims, if you will, from the French border to Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia, Spain.
That's why we end up in France on June 17th. If all goes well, 32 days and 480 miles later, we'll arrive in Santiago with a full pilgrim's passport, blisters on our feet (and probably other places) and hopefully, new perspectives on the world. We will have stayed in monasteries, pilgrim's hostels, maybe a couple of castles, and most likely a couple of nights at least in the open air.
Let me back up and give you some historical background on Santiago de Compostela. In the mid-late 9th century, in a remote corner of northwest Spain; an area only recently recaptured from the Moors (who had come to Spain in the early 8th century to spread the Islamic faith), the bones of James the Apostle were discovered. The discovery came at a crucial time for the struggling Christian kingdoms of northern Spain, as yet another battle with the Moors was imminent, and their continued existence as independent kingdoms was threatened. the discovery of the apostle's bones had a profound impact on the armies of the Christian kingdoms, and disaster was averted. As a result, the King of Asturias, who held loose dominion over the place where James' remains were unearthed, built a church and named the place Santiago de Compostela.
Not surprisingly, given Spain's tumultuous history of conquest and re-conquest, James became the patron saint of Spain and over the centuries hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have journeyed to Santiago de Compostela.
The purpose of this blog is simple: to share with anyone interested my experiences on the pilgrimage itself, and my thoughts, fears, hopes, and dreams as I prepare for this journey. I sincerely hope that if you're reading this, you'll consider yourself part of the journey as well.
I'm excited about this adventure: I look forward to spending a month in a country I love, experiencing it in a way I've never done so before. I anticipate, and am anxious, about what God will do on this journey, which is in fact as much a spiritual journey as a physical one for me. And I even look forward to sharing the experience with my parents, though I have a feeling that my iPod will be a life-saver from time to time.
I'll update this blog probably once a week or so until the trip itself, then the idea is to write a bit every evening of the journey. Thanks again for sharing this with me - I'll look forward to hearing from you.
P.S. - With apologies to my mother, who is not a fan of Wikipedia, if you'd like some more information on the Camino de Santiago, I suggest you start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_santiago
Sounds like an amazing journey! We are looking forward to stories of your adventures.
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