On 28th March 2019 I set out on an unlikely adventure for an old bloke like me, to walk the 170 miles from Astorga to Santiago de Compostela. I’m not totally sure why I wanted to do it: it had something to do with Lent; it also had something to do with seeing whether I could; and it certainly had to do with raising money for the Folkestone Rainbow Centre. When I returned home on 13th April in one sense nothing much had changed, but in another sense, everything had.
During the intervening fourteen days I had spent a day at the beginning walking around Madrid, and a day at the end looking around Santiago, with the remaining 12 days being taken up with 63 hours of walking – some of it idyllic and peaceful, some of it tough and challenging. The journey started and finished in warm sunshine, but in between there had been strong headwinds, rain, sleet, snow and fog. It involved climbing over 5,500 metres in all, and descending over 6,000.
There are many different pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, with perhaps the best-known starting in France at Saint Jean Pied de Port, which is the route used for the 2011 film, “The Way”. This Camino Frances. as it is known, has been followed by pilgrims for over 1,000 years, and involves a gruelling 500 mile hike starting with a tough haul across the Pyrenees. The picture on the right shows a statue in Astorga of an old-time pilgrim, giving an impression of just how tough the pilgrimage must have been before the advent of modern equipment and clothing.
Mine was a much more modest version, chosen to be a challenge that could be completed within two weeks, and was manageable to an aging frame like mine. at 170 miles, it was considerably less challenging than the full 500 mles, but considerably more challenging than the most popular route of 70 miles starting from Sarria.
So now that two weeks have elapsed for the dust to settle, I ask myself what am I left with? I lost a pound or two in weight, and a few inches in size; I am still limping slightly from a torn muscle in the region of my right hip; I have a gallery of several hundred photographs; and I have made a few new friends in person and on Facebook.
More significantly, perhaps, are the echoes that I am left with of some profound spiritual insights. Each evening, I would read a chapter from Brian Zahnd’s wonderful new book, “Postcards from Babylon: The Church in American Exile.” But although the title speaks of America, the book speaks just as provocatively to anyone trying to follow Jesus faithfully anywhere in the developed world today.
Then, each morning as I walked the open miles between town and village or hamlet, I would ponder the implications for my own life and for churches in my home town of Folkestone. I plan to let these crystallise ove the next few weeks and months, and encapsulate them into posts on this Blog. Inspired by Brian’s “Postcards” I am also embarking on the preparation of a new series of Bible studies on the Book of Revelation, whih will be made freely available on this web site, alongside the three series that are already available: Genesis, the Psalms and Current Issues.
The physical adventure may have lasted only two weeks – but I suspect that the spiritual, intellectual and emotional adventure still has many months or years to run yet.
“Buen Camino”.
