September 9, 2024
Away, walking away, walking away looking for something that’s true.These are the words that begin a musical project called “El Camino” that I wrote during the pandemic about five strangers walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain together. In just a few weeks, I will be joining members from Advent in Spain where we will walk this ancient pilgrim path for a week. In the middle ages, faithful people made the long journey to a church in Santiago de Campostela to honor what they believed were the bones of the Apostle James. Since then, many who have walked the “Way of St. James” have reported spiritual blessings and changes in their lives. I fully expect that our team will share such experiences as we walk with the goal of preserving freedom for those caught in hymnal trafficking.
In the musical, each of the five pilgrims undergo transformations that bring healing and hope as they walk ”the Way.” It’s important to remember that Jesus did not invite people to join a church but to follow him. All of his teaching and miracles and healing were done on the road as he went from town to town. He never stayed anywhere long, always hitting the trail to get to the next time and share the good news as far as he could in the time that he had available. Even when he left them, his command was not to stay and build a sanctuary but to “go and make disciples.” The earliest term for the followers of Jesus was not “Christians” but people who followed “the Way.”
This week we will reflect on what it means to be people of “the Way” today. Perhaps it is time to reconsider Jesus’ call to “come follow me” even if that means “walking away from everything” we ever knew. Perhaps that is where the truth will be found for us as well.
Psalm 25: 4 Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. 5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
El Camino will be performed live Saturday, September 21 at 7 PM in the gym Surf Shack.