What an arduous day. We got a late start and took longer breaks than usual, especially because of having to stop for boiled octopus in Melide. All I can say to that is yuck. Our reservation in Arzua also meant we had to cover nearly 30 km today, so by the time we arrived (after 6), my feet were pretty much done for the day.
It was a glorious day though with sun, flowers, green groves, and deep conversations. One of those centered around a keychain we saw in a pilgrim store that read "The Way is the Goal." (Speaking of goals, weren't the 7 scored by Germany the other night pretty sweet?!?) Both of us decided we agreed with the little saying. If you don't like walking or spending the time to actually be on the Camino, then don't do it. Just fly straight to Santiago if seeing the city is your only goal. Of course the walking itself has to be part of the reason you would even do this in the first place. Where we disagreed, however, was in whether or not the way is the whole goal.
I say the destination, in our case the city and church of Santiago, still have to part of the goal as well, maybe around 10%. Having an end gives purpose to the journey. If the camino itself were the only goal, it would be an aimless path, much like trying to live a vibrant faith without God. In my argument, I likened it to my job as a teacher. There, too, the majority of the work happens in the everyday sweat and tears of worksheets, homework, lessons, and grading. The nine months of learning are so much more the seeming goal than the last two weeks of finals and graduation. But you can't take away those final destinations, or students will ask what the point is? If there is no advancement to the next grade, why even spend that year learning? Now some might argue that the learning itself had value, just as the walking itself has a richness to it, but those values are much diminished if they don't lead to something.
It keeps coming back to faith for me. I've met so many people who are searching for peace or wisdom in personal decisions or meaning in their lives while walking the camino, but they don't want to have to find it in God. Spirituality or philosophy, okay, but they prefer that vague "something inside themselves" over the timeless Scriptures about Christ or the truth of a living God who wants a relationship with them. A goal without a source or a destination. Here's my keychain: "The Goal is so much more than the Way."
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