Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Do you know "the Way"?

Along the Camino, little scallop-shell
signs signal the direction to walk. This
one is in Puente la Reina.



Our community is going to a screening Thursday of the new Martin Sheen movie, "The Way," set on the age-old Camino de Santiago. Sr Helena will be the emcee, introducing Sheen and his producer-son Emilio Estevez. (I plan to be there armed with cameras so you can share the event.)
I've posted about the Camino before. There have been a number of beautifully reflective books published in the past five or six years about this 500-mile walk. (I especially enjoyed Joyce Rupp's "Walk in a Relaxed Manner.") In the middle ages, the Camino led to what was one of the most important destinations in the Christian world (Jerusalem and Rome being the other two).
In 2006 I was traveling in Spain, and our little group criss-crossed the Camino in more than one location. I felt a trifle guilty zipping past the pilgrims in a car while they trekked across the mountains on foot, but before the trip, Compostela was only a vague footnote in my Catholic imagination. Once I had actually been there, I conceived the desire to make the Camino for real. Given my profound lack of stamina, I'm not sure that's a dream that has the slightest chance of becoming a reality, but it's still a very nice dream. In the meantime, there are movies.

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