“Are you religious?”. It’s a question that I hear most often on the Camino than anywhere else. And much more often than “What do you do for a living?”. Why? Because what we do for a living is a factual subject, a safe subject, a coffee-shop-pub-and-bar subject. Whereas whether or not you believe in God; what you believe God is; and if you afíliate yourself, publicly or privately, to any established church or religion falls within the realm of risky subjects. And on the Camino, as in life generally, we quickly learn that risk really is the currency of true and lasting reward.
One of the things that many people take away with them after walking the Camino (and it’s something that also keeps drawing them back), is the depth, breadth and profoundly affecting nature of the conversations that they have with other fellow walkers on the Way. They discover how liberating it can feel to be open with strangers about very personal thoughts and beliefs. And also how sharing and exchanging those beliefs, often for the first time, can open doorways to a heightened awareness of life and their innate connection with others, in a way that adds more colour, vibrancy and joy to their experience of it.
It’s not unusual to hear people telling me that they “stumbled across the Camino” in their lives back home and then, inexplicably and repeatedly, kept randomly hearing things about it. Often they are people in the process, or on the verge, of great change. They carry with them deep questions about aspects of their lives and find themselves voicing them as they walk alongside others…who also carry their own questions. Two common threads that seem to weave through these questions are often different forms of “Is this it?” and “Why?”. They’re questions that people find themselves asking in the context of changing life situations, unexpected illnesses or personal experiences, or deep personal grief, and they inevitably lead many on to more spiritual questions, in an attempt to find some understanding and meaning. And, when they begin to explore those questions in conversation with others, “Are you religious?” and “Do you believe in God?” often float to the surface.
If answered openly and honestly, people take the risk of exposing ‘their truth’, because they’re sharing their most fundamental beliefs and, by doing that, they’re laying bare a potentially vulnerable, and completely authentic, part of themselves. It’s often an act of immense faith and hope – sharing our deep truth with another. Faith, that the other person will listen with compassion and respect, even if their own beliefs differ wildly…and Hope, that there may even be some shared understanding and empathy, some common ground that both of us can stand on together, in a deep and meaningful way.
So why do people take these risks in an effort to connect? I believe it’s to reassure themselves…ourselves…that our lives and beliefs have value, in and of themselves; that we have value – at the heart of who we are, not just for what we can do in a practical sense for others. I think there’s something instinctive within each of us, on a spiritual level, which senses that when we make connections with others very different to ourselves, we reach out beyond ourselves, to make contact and connection with something greater than us both. And that, actually, our difference, and our ability and willingness to be open and vulnerable enough to bridge that difference, is an integral part of our value to this world, and to that something greater.
On my first Camino ten years ago, my answers to those two, often-heard questions would have been “No, I’m not religious” and “I believe in something, but not the God promoted by the Church”. Now, many miles, conversations, and lived-experiences later, my answers would be “I don’t see myself as religious, but others might disagree” and “Yes, I believe in God…but in a different form to that promoted by the Church”. It may sound similar but there’s actually been a fundamental change that has undergone its own Darwinian-type evolution.
You see, my life experience since that first Camino, has taught me that I have a direct relationship with God that doesn’t require interpretation or mediation from anyone else. So the idea of being required to follow a specific doctrine, to repeat specific words, or to have a spiritual obligation to take part in specific, regular rituals, feels quite alien to me and that relationship with God…despite being raised as a Roman Catholic. But those 10 years have also brought me into contact with many extraordinary people who work within the Church, and within Church communities. People for whom those doctrines and rituals are very important and, indeed, fundamental to them in maintaining a vibrant sense of their relationship with and understanding of God.
And it is that experience of living alongside those people, working with them, listening to them, sharing with them, observing their disarming honesty, authenticity, courage and vulnerability at first hand, that has engendered feelings of incredible empathy and respect for the difference between us. And has also helped me to understand God’s presence within it…and within us…all.
It’s also reinforced my belief in the continual presence, power and positive energy of God’s Love, and I now see and believe that God’s spirit is lived, felt and experienced – in relationship with others – in countless different ways…including, but not only, through…
- Openness and honesty, in thought, word & deed
- Motiveless, untainted Love, both for ourselves & for others
- Absolute respect for the individuality of ourselves & of others
- Courage to be our authentic selves, even in the face of opposition
- Selfless kindness
- Willingness and cooperation
- Compassionate, restorative, regenerative and peaceful action
- The realisation that we need never be afraid
- The trust that this Spirit is always with us…and always will be
So I suppose, in a nutshell and at this moment in time, that is my Truth…which continues to add colour, meaning, challenge, joy and light to every aspect of my life…and just leaves me wondering how you might describe Yours…?
La Casa de Paz 