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Category: REM Reflections

As I walked the Camino del Norte about three weeks into my journey, I was a little ahead of my projected schedule. I had previously read about the Camino Lebaniego which split off from the del Norte and traveled four days south through the Picos de Europa and takes you to a monastery where the last large intact piece of the True Cross is kept. It is considered one of the most important Christian pilgrimage sites in the world. I had spent some time in some terrain where I had the marks of...

As the church looks back on 100 years and looks forward at the next ten, there are some stark realities we are facing. There is grief and frustration, anxiety and a feeling of helplessness. I am reminded of when Mary and Martha bemoan Jesus’ delay at the bedside of Lazarus… “If only you had been here…” (John 11). Why does it seem like God hasn’t answered our call and has been leaving the mainline Christian denominations like the United Church to wither? I understand the reaction to what we’re...

Christmas Hope While it is unlikely that I can meet with all of the 437 communities of faith in my three regional councils in any given year, I certainly have connected with a good number of them over the last year. A few things are clear. We are all struggling. We are all facing an uncertain future. Congregations that are running out of money, others who are running out of people. Disciples who are unsure how to speak to their friends and neighbours about faith because they are worried about...

Since my return, a number of people have asked me how the Camino experience has changed me. It’s really difficult to summarize a two-month journey and its impact. One American Lutheran minister I met towards the end of my journey told me that it took him a year to full process his first Camino. While that seemed long to me at the time, I am starting to understand what he meant. Like an onion, you just keep peeling back the layers and sometimes there are tears that come as a result. The short...

What is often described as the most beautiful Camino, and also one of the most challenging, is the Camino Primitivo. It starts in Oviedo, and cuts through the mountains between the Camino del Norte and the Camino Frances. For most people it is a 13 day walk to Santiago, with an extra two days if you start from the Camino del Norte at Villaviciosa. There are many things that make this particular path an interesting walk. It is the oldest and the one that is described as the path of the very...

There is a lot of wisdom along the path. One particularly long day, about three weeks into my journey, I encountered a seasoned walker who had done many different paths, but doing the Camino del Norte for the first time. He was an avid gardener. In fact, he was the gardener of a local monastery in his home town in Germany. He would stop frequently to admire various flowers, both in and out of the many gardens you would encounter along the journey. Many of the flowers in northern Spain were...