Page 5 - KOG Glory & Grace, Issue 8, November 2022

In 2022 Steve and Martha returned to the Camino to finish the Norte route, walking 20 days to reach the destination (Santiago). "Sometimes there would be stretches of 4-5 miles where we wouldn't see a house and there were even days when we wouldn't say a word to each other," Steve remembers, describing it as "a solitary experience, even if you’re with someone." Susan agrees that it was a deeply personal experience. Susan notes, “I definitely feel a deeper connection to the Source. I’ve continued to pray (30 minutes or more daily) now that I’m home. My prayer life has broadened (praying for more than just me and my family) and I can feel my heart expanding.” Martha and Steve say they have returned home "with a different attitude" and a "depth to the term journey" that inspires them to continue being pilgrims even at home. "We learned the difference between a tourist and a pilgrim" Steve says. "A tourist is someone who is an outsider, an observer, one who is wandering and passive. But a pilgrim is engaged, walking with intention, and in a constant state of discovery." Steve's conviction is visible as he speaks, "Now we want to be pilgrims everywhere
On the Camino, Steve and Martha (walking together) and Susan (walking a different route with her sister, Mary) each experienced the kindness of strangers and struck up conversation with people from across the world that they met along the way. A common opening question for pilgrims is "Why are you walking?" Some walk because they are at a life transition point or re-evaluating things in a particular season. For others, the journey provides time for seeking clarity about what is important in life.
Though historically Catholic pilgrims completed the journey in exchange for the forgiveness of sins, for Susan, Martha, and Steve they insist that the greatest reward was not given at the end. "You never knew what the terrain would be on a given day - thick clay, asphalt, manicured trail, rocks," Steve shares, and yet somehow with God's grace you finish the day. Along her Camino, Susan recalls having moments of doubt, questioning, “how am I gonna get up this thing?” “I don’t know if I can make it to the next spot...but I did.” Martha explains, "In your backpack you are carrying everything you need. Two shirts, two pants, enough underwear for a few
days," and "each afternoon you do laundry, hang your clothes, and hope they will be dry in
the morning."
When things didn't go according to plan, Susan exclaims, there were always "Camino angels" along the way. "Everyone was oriented to helping others and in places where the trail was unclear, people would shout, 'no, no, no pilgrim! The path is back there' or others would point the way."
Susan comments, "we all have our own Camino," so for these KOG pilgrims and for each of us, the journey continues. Though you may never travel to Europe to walk one of the Camino routes, you also are a pilgrim, a "follower of the Way," who believes that Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life."
A Pilgrim's Prayer
Watch the sunrise
Walk in the light of the Divine Want love, joy, peace, mercy + justice. Seek wisdom
Tell the truth
Create beauty
Love courageously
Watch the sun set
Die to the small separated self
Eat and drink,
laugh and cry
Listen and tell stories with a grateful, undivided heart.
Sleep in peace
Dream of a new world Awaken to eternal life.
~Mark Scandrette
we go."
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1: Susan Plath (R) and her sister, Mary; 2: Steve and Martha on the coast of Spain; 3: Martha and other pilgrims along the trail; 4: Steve and Martha outside the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral.