by Jill Fandrich
I love to walk. Getting 10,000 steps on my health app is rarely a problem, even on days when I’m just doing errands or working around the house. Hiking is one of my favorite activities, especially on the beautiful Finger Lakes trails. But walking isn’t just exercise. It’s a spiritual discipline too.
Walking has long been a religious practice. Early Christians would make pilgrimages to sacred places, walking hundreds of miles to holy sites. Even today, hundreds of thousands of people walk one of the many ancient pilgrimage trails of the Camino de Santiago each year, culminating at the cathedral where the remains of the Apostle James are purportedly interred.
I recently traveled to Portugal and Spain, where I hiked portions of the Portuguese Camino route. I cannot and do not claim to have “walked the Camino” because my hiking was only a sample of the entire trek, which can take more than a month to complete. I did, however, learn more about the experience and met pilgrims along the way who were undertaking the entire journey.
Originally a Christian pilgrimage, the Camino now attracts people of many faith traditions or no faith tradition at all. People from all over the world come to walk the paths leading to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia Spain. In fact, the symbol of the Camino is the scallop shell, with its many lines converging into one point, representing the converging paths of the Camino, as well as the many paths we take to find God or meaning in our lives.
All along the Camino, we saw shrines where pilgrims had left stones, photographs, toys, articles of clothing, or other small mementos. Many people walk the Camino to deal with problems, grief, or challenges. As they walk, they leave these small tokens at the shrines as a symbolic act of putting down a burden and moving on.
Walking the Camino is symbolic of our life journey. It is often breath-takingly beautiful, encompassing mountaintops, oceans, fields, flowers, and rivers. It also has sudden rough patches, steep climbs, boring portions on paved roads, and challenging areas where you want to give up. Encountering challenges, persisting when it’s hard, moving on, appreciating beauty, finding joy, walking sometimes alone and sometimes with others… the Camino is a beautiful analogy of life itself.
I attended the Pilgrim’s Mass at the Cathedral in Santiago on the evening we reached the city. It was entirely in Spanish, so I didn’t understand it all, but it began with the priest welcoming pilgrims from every nation, specifically naming all the countries in the world from which people came. It was incredibly moving.
Not everyone could or can experience the traditional walk along the Camino or other pilgrimage routes around of the world. But there are other alternatives. In medieval times, churches would build labyrinths so that people could achieve a similar experience by walking a small path. A labyrinth is different from a maze. In a maze you can get lost. In a labyrinth, there is one path to the center and one back out. But the path twists and turns, making you feel like you are almost to your goal, but then veering away to the outer circle. You walk a labyrinth patiently and slowly, finding your way to the center and then going back out the same way to live your faith in the world. Labyrinths are a meaningful way to use your body in spiritual practice. Locally, you can find a beautiful labyrinth behind the United Ministry of Aurora on the shore of Cayuga Lake.
My church, Westminster Presbyterian, offers monthly contemplative hikes at area parks and trails. Led by member Brian Teucke, we gather once a month on a Saturday morning to walk in the beauty of God’s creation. We begin with a short devotion or prayer, then walk the first half in silence. We break the silence on the second half of our walks, enjoying fellowship and conversation with fellow “lovers of the trail.” The beauty of the lakes, waterfalls, rivers, vineyards, fields, and woods are reminders of God’s creation and our duty to be good stewards of the natural gifts we are given.
Walking is a way to exercise your soul as well as your body. There are some who pray by bowing their heads and folding their hands. I pray by lacing up my hiking shoes and putting one foot in front of the other.
I love to walk. Getting 10,000 steps on my health app is rarely a problem, even on days when I’m just doing errands or working around the house. Hiking is one of my favorite activities, especially on the beautiful Finger Lakes trails. But walking isn’t just exercise. It’s a spiritual discipline too.
Walking has long been a religious practice. Early Christians would make pilgrimages to sacred places, walking hundreds of miles to holy sites. Even today, hundreds of thousands of people walk one of the many ancient pilgrimage trails of the Camino de Santiago each year, culminating at the cathedral where the remains of the Apostle James are purportedly interred.
I recently traveled to Portugal and Spain, where I hiked portions of the Portuguese Camino route. I cannot and do not claim to have “walked the Camino” because my hiking was only a sample of the entire trek, which can take more than a month to complete. I did, however, learn more about the experience and met pilgrims along the way who were undertaking the entire journey.
Originally a Christian pilgrimage, the Camino now attracts people of many faith traditions or no faith tradition at all. People from all over the world come to walk the paths leading to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia Spain. In fact, the symbol of the Camino is the scallop shell, with its many lines converging into one point, representing the converging paths of the Camino, as well as the many paths we take to find God or meaning in our lives.
All along the Camino, we saw shrines where pilgrims had left stones, photographs, toys, articles of clothing, or other small mementos. Many people walk the Camino to deal with problems, grief, or challenges. As they walk, they leave these small tokens at the shrines as a symbolic act of putting down a burden and moving on.
Walking the Camino is symbolic of our life journey. It is often breath-takingly beautiful, encompassing mountaintops, oceans, fields, flowers, and rivers. It also has sudden rough patches, steep climbs, boring portions on paved roads, and challenging areas where you want to give up. Encountering challenges, persisting when it’s hard, moving on, appreciating beauty, finding joy, walking sometimes alone and sometimes with others… the Camino is a beautiful analogy of life itself.
I attended the Pilgrim’s Mass at the Cathedral in Santiago on the evening we reached the city. It was entirely in Spanish, so I didn’t understand it all, but it began with the priest welcoming pilgrims from every nation, specifically naming all the countries in the world from which people came. It was incredibly moving.
Not everyone could or can experience the traditional walk along the Camino or other pilgrimage routes around of the world. But there are other alternatives. In medieval times, churches would build labyrinths so that people could achieve a similar experience by walking a small path. A labyrinth is different from a maze. In a maze you can get lost. In a labyrinth, there is one path to the center and one back out. But the path twists and turns, making you feel like you are almost to your goal, but then veering away to the outer circle. You walk a labyrinth patiently and slowly, finding your way to the center and then going back out the same way to live your faith in the world. Labyrinths are a meaningful way to use your body in spiritual practice. Locally, you can find a beautiful labyrinth behind the United Ministry of Aurora on the shore of Cayuga Lake.
My church, Westminster Presbyterian, offers monthly contemplative hikes at area parks and trails. Led by member Brian Teucke, we gather once a month on a Saturday morning to walk in the beauty of God’s creation. We begin with a short devotion or prayer, then walk the first half in silence. We break the silence on the second half of our walks, enjoying fellowship and conversation with fellow “lovers of the trail.” The beauty of the lakes, waterfalls, rivers, vineyards, fields, and woods are reminders of God’s creation and our duty to be good stewards of the natural gifts we are given.
Walking is a way to exercise your soul as well as your body. There are some who pray by bowing their heads and folding their hands. I pray by lacing up my hiking shoes and putting one foot in front of the other.
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