A young man that I was walking with during the day toward the end of the first third of the Camino was lamenting the fact that so many people walking as pilgrims are actually ignorant of the religious significance of the Camino - sometimes not ignorant, but seemingly ignoring it. There are many reasons people walk the Camino and it is true that some of those reasons are more cultural, physical, and - as I'm seeing many young people now starting at Sarria - social. But still almost all wear the scallop shell and even the cross of St. James painted on.
Despite ones stated reasons, no one can ignore the cultural significance of the Camino as one walks through Spain and experiences culture and history from the Basque Country, through the vineyards of Rioja, through Castille and Leon, and then entering Galicia. Despite ones stated reasons, no one can ignore the physical work of walking, the hurts and injuries, and the effects and benefits on ones health and body. Despite ones stated reasons, no one can ignore the social aspect as people meet, share stories and meals, disperse and rejoin, leave one another not knowing if there will be another meeting and rejoicing at a surprising reconnection. So too, no one can ignore the spiritual and deeply religious aspect. Even if one has a vacuum of spirituality or religiosity in ones life, even by an osmotic process, spirituality and religion seeps in during the Camino.
After all we are physical beings. We are cultural beings. We are social beings. We are also spiritual beings and religion is what binds all those things together. The word "religion" has the "lig" root as does the word "ligament" - that which binds to make a body whole. While recognizing and articulating the religious and spiritual would be better than not, I perceive that the Camino reaches people where they are and in whatever stage draws them closer to the Divine.
May Jesus, the Divine Word, reach and touch the hearts of all pilgrims in their need.
Amen.
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