by Rev. Mary Beene
Rev. Kate Clayton,
pastor of San Geronimo Presbyterian Church in San Geronimo, CA, “wanted to share this rainbow as kind of EARTH
blessing. The weather was unusually cold and rainy at the beginning of our
Camino Frances. many folks we met commented on loving this double rainbow.” She was taking the route over the mountain at St. Jean Pied-de-Port in
France. Many pilgrims start their Camino
in France.
Rev. Stephanie Ryder,
pastor of Redwoods Presbyterian Church in Larkspur, CA, commented that “walking 13 miles a day for 7+ days helped me
realize I could do a lot more walking and a lot less driving once I returned.”
She also noted some
commonalities between places as she compared this amazing picture in Spain to
our beloved San Francisco region. Even
as ecosystems are different, there are commonalities that connect us all.
Kate also wanted to
celebrate the community aspect of walking such distances together. “A quote I really
loved, or rather an image, was from a young Polish newlywed person whom we met
early on, and met several times until we stopped seeing him and his bride. He
had mentioned to another person in our cohort that ‘the Camino was like a village moving along
together between stops.’
“It’s not uncommon to keep seeing the people you
began with, but eventually they start moving faster or slower than you. If you
are a person who likes to stay at the end stage cities, you are more likely to
see others you’ve seen before.”
She also noted that “when it wasn’t feeling like a village, it felt like a
genuine world community, although Africa was under-represented, except for
South Africa.” And of course, the community is over time, as
well as we walk with pilgrims through the ages.
Another friend, Rev. John
Chase from First Petaluma Presbyterian Church in Petaluma, CA noticed the toll
that thousands of pilgrims take on the route each year. “I was quite disappointed to see so much trash
along the Portuguese Camino. Much of this was along roads, and were undoubtedly
thrown out of car windows, or by other non-pilgrim pedestrians. Portugal in
general was not the cleanest country I've been to in terms of roadside trash.”
“However, I also observed a lot of trash along
sections of the pilgrim route that were away from roads--trash that was clearly
left by pilgrims. For example, during one stage, a man came running out from
his shop to give us a plastic bag that included two apples and a cold bottle of
water. He had walked the Camino many years ago and he had these bags made up
and stored in his shop's refrigerator to give to weary pilgrims as they pass
by. Very thoughtful. This sort of thing is common on the Camino. What was a bit
surprising and disappointing to me though was for the next mile, I spotted
dozens of those exact plastic bags and empty water bottles on the side of the
trail, clearly from pilgrims who ate their apples or put them in their packs
for later, drank the water and simply tossed the bag and bottle into the
bushes. As I walked, I actually thought about the idea of doing a trash pickup
Camino. Ask pilgrims to pick one stretch of Camino and do some trash pickup.”
He continues: “It's common for people on the Camino to carry a
stone as they walk as a symbol of a burden they are carrying. Then, at some
point along the way, they lay that stone down as a way to symbolically lay down
that burden and continue on. Some stones are carried briefly, maybe an hour or
a day. I knew someone going through a divorce who carried her stone for the
entire Camino and set it down when she got to Santiago de Compostela.
Carrying stones didn't work
for me, so I started picking up strips of ribbon, hair bands, bits of fabric. I
would carry each one and pray for a particular person while I carried it. After
an hour or two or more, I would tie it onto my walking stick. I even found two
discarded bandanas that I washed, sometimes used to block the sun around my
neck, and also tied them onto my walking stick. I repurposed the trash to use
as a spiritual practice. I even found a rubber tip that had fallen off
someone's trekking pole. It fit perfectly on the tip of my bamboo walking stick
and significantly cut down on the sound my walking stick made when it hit the
ground.”
"Walking gets you closer to the ground, and you
notice more than you would zipping by in a car. I do a lot more walking now
here in Petaluma, to the store, to work, etc., and I notice more trash on the
side of the road, but, as on the Camino, I also notice the beauty--blooming
trees and flowers, lizards, birds, the feel of the sun on my face on a cold
morning, a cool breeze on a hot day. Occasionally, I would help small
creatures, like snails, caterpillars, and snakes that I found in the middle of
roadways, at risk of being hit by cars. You only see that if you're walking.
"The Camino
provides" is a common saying you hear when you are a pilgrim. It is a way
of acknowledging one's dependence on nature and others (pilgrims and
non-pilgrims) when on the Camino...no one is ever truly alone when walking the
Camino.”
“I remember times when my water was low, and I
came to a public fountain just when I needed it, or to a cafe, or some stranger
invited me to pick an orange or two off their tree, or simply met me at the
roadside and handed me a snack for the road.”
“This was also the case when, for example, I
shared bandaids with another pilgrim who had run out, or shared a granola bar
with a fellow pilgrim during a rest. I also discovered fruit trees along the
way, in public spaces (not on privately owned property), mostly loquat (or Nêspera in
Portuguese) and orange trees (but also mulberry trees and wild strawberries)
that I would pick and either eat on the spot or put in my pack for later. For
me, this was another example of the Camino providing. I would only harvest what
I needed, what I could carry in the small front pocket of my backpack, leaving
the rest for other pilgrims.”
The Camino is both an
opportunity to care for God’s wondrous creation and to
damage it by overuse and lack of concern.
As we learn profound spiritual lessons on our pilgrimages – wherever they may take
us, we must also take care that our footprint is as light as possible.
Rev. Mary Beene is the pastor at Windsor Presbyterian Church in
Windsor, CA and a contributor to EARTH NEWS.
She is excited to walk her Camino from July 17-24, 2024 along the
Portugues/Coastal route.
