Along with Deborah, I am about to the start the Camino way, a very old pilgrim route across the top of Spain finishing in Santiago de Compostela. It is about 800km long and will take us about 35 days including a couple of rest days. Along the way we will be staying in hostels and sharing the route with around 500 others, if the historical numbers are to be believed.
As it is quite a journey a number of people have asked if I am going to blog while doing it. There is also a few who have asked what spiritual things I am planning to do and if I am planning to write about that as well.
In general I am reluctant to do this as I have found myself being very careful about what I write that is public.
Part of this is a Facebook backlash. Not only do I find that people are incredibly indiscreet on public forums, they are also far less restrained in what they say, and the opinions they adhere to, than they would be if they are talking to a real person.
I don’t want to be like that. When I write I prefer a slower method that takes time to go over the pros and cons of particular perspectives and has the chance for them to be moderated by the faces of others.
I am also conscious that I might change my mind. When I think back on all the opinions that I used to hold I shudder a bit at how stupid I have been. Chances are I will look back at myself in a few years time and think the same.
But that is called growing up I guess.
However, when things are written down in public it is almost like you are placing your soul on stone tablets. Of course, in its extreme, this attitude would lead to nothing being written all, which would also be a bit silly.
However, I believe care is needed.
To illustrate this, but in no way thinking this would apply to myself, I have been struck by the level of scrutiny given to the writings of people like the previous presidents of the USA. Eventually, everything from their whole life is under the microscope. Although this probably doesn’t apply to Trump, what level of care was taken in what they wrote, published, and spoke in public on the off chance that they might try and get elected? It seems that they would have to be very deliberate, careful, and hopefully thoughtful, from a very early age.
On a similar note, while doing a course at university, I argued that the requirement to participate on online, written, public forums was unethical, or at least unhelpful. People think all sorts of nonsense at university and being able to freely work out things with others in open discussion is an important way of developing your identity and view. However, if they are written and public then views you held at a very tender age, or were perhaps taking to flesh out a discussion, now run the risk of defining you forever.
On the other hand, another side of me wants my viewpoint known and discussed and to live with the consequences. If that is to happen I will have to take the risk at some point. Apparently, a reluctance to do this is actually a weakness of my personality type and I need to grow a pair….
For those of you who are planning to read this I would hope that you do so with all the above in mind.
So what am I planning to do here?
Firstly, while I will include experiences of the actual walk, this is not the primary purpose of this blog. This time on the walk is a great chance to flesh out some things I have been thinking about in more detail, and thoughts are very important to me. This is my bias. When I read people’s biographies I am really not that interested in the details of their life. What I am interested in is what they think about topics and issues as this will influence what they do in the future. Information on the details of life simply inform these. For example, what do you think about issues relating to justice? I am extremely interested in that and how you came to think what you do. Naturally, your life story is vitally important to understanding that so the details and stories have purpose and a framework.
What is that I want to think about? Since this is a pilgrimage I am planning to blog about “pilgrim” type things. Specifically, I intend while walking to reflect and blog about what I call my “sacramental beliefs”. I have been developing them over the last year or so and it is time for them to get a work out and be tested in a more public forum. So why not here?
The genesis of these beliefs came from reflecting on a specific spiritual challenge I, and many members of my church, have and which I suspect it is a reasonably generic issue for people. I once suggested that Ilam Baptist could handle a sermon on Grace pretty much every week. To illustrate why, during a sermon I once got people to raise their hands if they thought that people would love them more if they got better grades. You can guess the result.
I believe Grace is one of the ultimate counter cultural things about being a Christian. We adhere to the idea that there is nothing we can do to redeem ourselves, we have simply been redeemed! As Brennan Manning put it, “you don’t be good so you can be loved, you are loved so that you can be good”. And yet every other day of the week and, let’s be honest, most of Sunday as well, we are told the opposite. We are absolutely bombarded by the idea that we won’t be accepted unless we do certain things and achieve certain standards. Theoretically, Sunday is a day when we declare that another truth exists, that as Christians we believe in something completely different to “the world”. It is a challenge to hold on to this, and we continually need to remind ourselves, as everyday we are encouraged to forget.
This got me wondering what other counter cultural beliefs I should declare, deliberately align myself with, and remind myself of in a regular way? I call them sacramental beliefs (SB’s) because I think ultimately that is what we do with the actual sacraments, like communion. By doing this act regularly we constantly remind ourselves that we think something quite different to everyone else and the physical act helps reinforce this.
More accurately, what I am doing is developing a creed. However, I prefer the discreet nature of “sacrament” in that each can be reflected on individually as well as taken as a whole.
Currently, I have 12 SBs. This is convenient as over the course of the walk I should pretty much be able to give each a day, three times over the course of the walk. Hopefully, by the end of it I will have a good idea if they are worthwhile. I may be able to cull or add to them as I go along.
Although I have no expectations here, with this being public some may want to respond. If you want to please do. Your own thoughts will help me refine mine. I am not sure if I will have the time or ability to respond but presumably you can respond to each other 😀.
One request, can you keep comments on each day relevant to specific belief of the day. Knowing some of you l can almost feel the desire to put your own list down. This is okay but I will try and create a specific page for this. All the input will help inform things so bring it on.
Finally, please note that a. I am typing on a phone, b. Every post is really a draft c. Deborah is my only live face for me to moderate ideas on (poor her) and d. I can’t spell and grammar is a mystery to me. Hence, all these posts are a work in process.
Ultimately, these posts reflect the act of pilgrimage, in that the process is as important as the outcome.
Rough against rough 