The start of any pilgrimage leg – at least those that are being walked by more than one’s self – is always accompanied by amicable conversation, and so was the case for me on this commencement as well; conversing smilingly with Berend & Gerard & Denise & Patrick about the day and their respective lives & journeys. Most of those underway at this point were only headed to St. Jean, and as such this was – at least for this year – their last day of pilgrimage; a fact that maybe contributed to the odd mixture of joy & sadness that I experienced throughout the day; joy at having been blessed to come to the very edge of completing their respective Great Tasks; sadness at so soon having to leave The Way and return to lives far more mundane, and as such far more challenging. I myself was nowhere near the end of my particular trek, and yet I understood all too well the cornucopia of seemingly contradictory feelings such a stage always brings, and I found myself pausing frequently on this day – to honor my fellow pilgrims, and to give immense & heartfelt thanks for myself being allowed to walk in similar shoes.

“I have often wondered why so many do it; intentionally uproot themselves, I mean – why so many feel the need to travel and wander and journey onto stranger soils; why we can’t simply leave things alone and remain fully ensconced where we already are. And then I think that it must be the world itself calling to us; the greater collective; the society of The One. After all, the Earth was indeed once one giant continent. And maybe this is why we do it; maybe this is why we feel drawn to each other and to the lands we cannot see. On the superficial surface we think of new places as opportunities to build new lives, and yet I was coming to understand that all are we’re really doing when we walk is attempting to find our way back.” ~ via V. J. Campilan

Filed under: Peace Pilgrimage #02: Walking HOME (2019) by Scaughdt