Finding my way on the Camino

Post-graduation finds most people on a wild night out, beginning a master’s programme, or starting an ‘adult’ job. For me, I hopped on a plane to Porto to begin the Portuguese route of El Camino de Santiago. This was my second time doing the Camino and it came with many new adventures and challenges along the way.

One thing I love about the Camino is the people you meet on the road. You are conversing with strangers from all walks of life– different countries, lifestyles and backgrounds. You might never see each other again, but for that split second or day or week, you become a part of each other’s journey and your stories intersect, if even for a moment. There is something special in having a shared experience with someone that connects you in a way that words will never be able to. Bumping into each other again a few days later means reconnecting with friends. Time sort of stands still and life is that simple there.

I remember one sweet couple I met from Scotland. I was praying the rosary as I passed them, and they called out “say one for us!”. I walked for a few hours with Anita. We discussed classical literature and art and things that mattered. Anita was worried about her son in law who had a burst appendix at home. I offered for us to pray a decade for him and she agreed, but I was confused as to why I was the only one praying aloud. After the Our Father, she stopped me with teary eyes, and gave me a warm hug, saying “That was a lovely thing you just did”. It was only afterwards that I discovered she was not Catholic. THIS is ecumenism. THIS is inter-faith dialogue. THIS is the underappreciated and underestimated beauty of our beloved Church and the impact our little yeses can have on others.

My second time doing the Camino was much more spiritual. I made time for God on a daily basis and that changed everything. I offered up my aching body to Him, I stopped in every church to pray and be with Him whom makes all things possible. I spent time in silence with the Lord each day and I read a beautiful book called Time for God by Jacques Phillippe. It was small and easy to bring with me, but its words
were powerful and truly changed me.

Sometimes, serious wounds came up in prayer as I spent regular time in silence. During the trip, I renounced the lie in Jesus’ name, that if I dared to hope for something, it would not come true and I would be left disappointed. There are so many lies that we are believing as humans out of real experiences of hurt, but God doesn’t want us to live like that, because that’s not really living. He desires total freedom for us. He doesn’t want us to ignore our wounds and “get over it”, He wants us to invite Him into these hurts and walk with Him and our true friends towards a place of hope and healing.

Do not misinterpret me: the Camino is HARD. My thoughts were not always as deep and reflective. Often, the only words forming in my head were “just keep walking”. While strenuous, it is doable for the unfit, but not for the faint-hearted. We walked 20-30km/day. Sometimes, the heat was so intense that we were melting, climbing up dirt roads of steep hills with heavy loads on our backs, wondering why we had everfreely chosen this suffering. Though, it did give us a new appreciation for the mist of the sea along the boardwalk or the breeze and shade of a forest trail. Nothing can compare to the satisfaction you feel when arriving at your destination each day. A silent “we made it” passes between fellow pilgrims. The impossible made possible, until you begin again tomorrow.

I love the freedom of the Camino; packing your life away into a 28L bag. You have no idea how far you’ll walk the next day or what the terrain will look like (despite the hundreds of inaccurate handbooks out there). All you know is your final destination: El Catédral de Santiago de Compostela. Knowing that is enough. It allows you to keep going. Then one day you arrive and there is this bittersweet feeling. A part of you is tempted to sit down forever and the other half wants to keep on walking. The pilgrimage is over but it also has only just begun. I returned home with a renewed heart and a deep knowledge that; while saying goodbye, a part of the Way will remain always with me.

Buen Camino my friends!

Áine Lee

January 2019