In Via
Planning a trip? Or just on the pilgrimage of daily living? We are the podcast at the intersection of faith and travel, assisting you on the journey to encounter Christ. Hear stories, discover travel tips, and learn more about our Catholic faith. Along the way, we’ll show you that if God seeks to meet us in Jerusalem, Rome, Lourdes, Mexico City, or Santiago, he also wants to encounter you - right there in your car, on your run, or in the middle of your workday.
In Via
Serving Along The Way: Hospitality and Evangelization on the Camino
While many people have walked the Camino as pilgrims, what is it like on the other side – serving pilgrims? In this episode, we welcome Greg Shurman, a retired middle school history teacher and devoted father, who shares about both his experiences walking and helping pilgrims on this ancient pilgrimage. Greg takes us through his journey along the Camino Frances and the Camino del Baztan, reflecting on the spiritual enrichment and profound connections he encountered along the way. His stories of volunteering in hospitality (while fulfilling a childhood dream!) shed light on the joy of service and the Camino's unique ability to bring people together.
Discover how the Camino fosters simplicity, mutual reliance, and spiritual reflection. Greg shares heartfelt anecdotes of comforting fellow pilgrims and the unexpected kindness that marked his journey. Join us as we not only explore the spiritual growth that comes with pilgrimage but also the power of being a good listener and the transformative impact of simple, compassionate actions.
This episode is a call to embrace the Camino's life-changing potential, and Greg's experiences might just be the motivation you need to take that first step on your own Camino! Tune in and let Greg's journey inspire your own!
Welcome to In Via, the podcast where we're navigating the pilgrimage of life. We are all in via on the way and we are learning a lot as we go. I'm your host, joan Watson. Join me as we listen to stories, discover travel tips and learn more about our Catholic faith. Along the way, we'll see that if God seeks to meet us in Jerusalem, rome or Santiago, he also wants to encounter you right there in your car, on your run or in the middle of your workday. In today's episode, I am joined by Greg Sherman, who recently walked the Camino and shares with us about his time of volunteering on the Camino. We talk all about this very famous pilgrimage, but especially look at what is it like to evangelize through the Camino. It's great to have you on the podcast at last. Greg and I have been talking about the Camino off and on at conferences and through email, and I'm really glad that now we're actually talking about it on the podcast. I'm very excited about this episode.
Speaker 2:Same here, same here.
Speaker 1:So we always start by asking our guests a little bit. I speak in the royal we, apparently. I always start the episodes asking our guests to talk a little bit about themselves. And that can be difficult because there's probably so much to say and I know we'll get to know you through this episode. But I always give people the hard task of saying if you could tell people three things about yourself, three sentences, what would you say? And I'm pretty liberal and generous with that three.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Well, first and foremost, I would say that I am a very proud father of a daughter who lives in Denver. She works for a Catholic nonprofit and she just turned 30 years old this year and I guess she's the joy of my life and I'm just so proud of her and what she's accomplished and also how she's helped me spiritually in my life. She's been kind of like a rock for me as well. Second of all, I guess I would say that I'm a retired middle school teacher.
Speaker 2:I taught history for close to 20 years and now, being retired, I have some opportunities to do some things that I really enjoy, and that's giving back to the community, doing some community service activities, like working with some nonprofits. I also volunteer as a mentor locally in my community and get to travel a little bit more than I was able to do when I was a teacher. Yeah, and then I guess, about my faith, you know I'm a cradle Catholic, grew up Catholic and I've always been a practicing Catholic and now I teach confirmation classes. I've been teaching confirmation for about 20 years and it's one of those sacraments that brings a lot of joy to me because of the Holy Spirit. And when I travel, when I pray, I always feel like the Holy Spirit is with me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, lovely, those kids are lucky because to have a former teacher, you know what you're doing teaching, but then, to be open to the Holy Spirit, you allow him to lead, I'm sure. So those confirmation students and your pastor are both very lucky to have you in that role. We're going to be talking today about the Camino and we've talked on this show before about the Camino. We've talked about the history of the Camino, we've talked to people who've walked the Camino. I do find that of all pilgrims, camino pilgrims are the most excited to talk about their experience and to say interview me about the experience.
Speaker 2:Exactly. That's why I'm smiling. I know we're recording audio, but if your listeners can see me, I'm smiling Absolutely.
Speaker 1:And I'd love to talk more about that, because I do think the Camino is so transformative you can't help but share after you get home. But just to start off, how many times have you been to Spain? Have you walked part or all of the Camino, or have you made a Camino? I guess I should say.
Speaker 2:Absolutely yeah. So I've been to Spain twice. My first Camino was last year, in 2023. And I was able to walk the Camino Frances, which was the entire northern part of Spain, from St Jean in France to Santiago. So that was last April and May and that took me about 38 days to accomplish that. And then this past spring, a couple months ago, I also went back to Spain and I walked a small Camino, camino Bastan, which runs from Bayonne, france, to Pamplona, spain. But I also volunteered at an albergue for two weeks in St Jean, which was really the highlight of my previous trip, my most recent trip Ever.
Speaker 2:Since I left Spain back last spring, I've wanted to go back, no doubt Every day. I kept thinking when am I going to go back, when am I going to go back? And then I heard that there's a way that you can volunteer. So you know, through the good Lord, he put me in touch with a person that had a connection with an albergue in St John and I communicated with the owner and we talked about dates and next thing, I know I'm heading back to France and Spain and helping out. You know, as a kid growing up and going on family vacations, which we did maybe one family vacation every year. I always loved staying at hotels and like places like that. So as a kid growing up I was like, ah, this would be great, I would love to like work in a place like this one day. And I never really fulfilled that, that goal or that dream. But uh, but I would honestly say like last month I was able, or back in May of this year I was able to do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you weren't just working at any hotel, but working in that ministry capacity, I think, at a place where people weren't just on holiday but were seeking, I think would definitely make it even better. And I want to talk about that volunteer time especially. But I want to go back and kind of go back to Greg pre first Camino and ask you what drew you to make a Camino? Why? Why was that attractive? Or did you really know what you were getting yourself into?
Speaker 2:even yeah, great question. So I didn't really know anything about the Camino. I received a postcard from my cousin who was traveling with her husband in Portugal and Spain. And this postcard comes in the mail and it's a. It's a postcard of all the routes going to Santiago and she challenged me. She said you know, what route are you going to do? And I was like I have no idea, I don't understand. You know, I have no idea what this is all about. So I started Googling, I started talking to some people, I went to the library, I found books and I was hooked.
Speaker 2:As soon as I saw my first video, just a YouTube video, I was like, no, this is, this is for me. So I called a good friend of mine in Ohio and I asked her. I said you know, you got to check this out. And then the two of us kind of like, talked and and she was very interested as well. So she said, no, this is yes, let's do it. You know, what time of year should we do this? What route should we take? So there's a lot of, a lot of unanswered questions at the time, but but then just just doing the research. But I, but I was, I was hooked as soon as I read about what it was and how long this has been going on, and I just I decided this is something I want to do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do you know what caused her to challenge you in that way? I mean, she had never I'm assuming she had never walked one. Do you know what made her like reach out to you and like pose that question, and did she know what she was going to create?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't think either one of us, neither one of us uh knew this. Uh, I had met Sally from Ohio in Peru the previous year. My niece and I had gone to Peru to uh to, to travel to Machu Picchu, and um, sally was one of the first Americans we met and she was a solo traveler by herself, uh, no fear, and she just inspired me. So over the you know, over that year between Peru and then when we walked the Camino, I kept in touch with her and she was the first one I thought about reaching out. Uh, and if there's anybody in the world that would say, let's do this thing, let's, let's go, it would be, it would be my friend Sally. I love it.
Speaker 1:I love it and uh yeah, Um, what surprised you and this is probably a huge question with lots of different answers- but um what surprised you and this is probably a huge question with lots of different answers but, um, what surprised you about the camino? Because you had done all this research, you had watched videos, you had read books, you, you know you went in knowing a lot about it, but I know that you don't know anything until you're on it, right. Um, what surprised you about the, your experience on that first Camino?
Speaker 2:One of the things that jumps out is just the people from all over the world, from different cultures. Yeah, I had no idea that some days I would be walking with people from Australia and Hong Kong and Taiwan and Ireland and Italy. That was number one. I knew I would meet pilgrims because I knew it was very popular, but I just had no idea that and I would get to know some people by talking with them. Secondly, I think the other surprise was the amount of churches along the way that were closed or locked or or like they. They were turned into museums basically, um, and there weren't services. But that was mostly in, like, the smaller towns, cause on the Camino you're going to, you know you're going to walk for you know 775 kilometers and you're going to go through some of these small towns, um, some of them were pretty much vacant.
Speaker 2:Like that was. That was a surprise as well. So you walk into these small towns and you don't really see anybody. And then you come across these churches and you're like, wow, I really want to get in this church and I really want to look at. You know, inside it's like this is you're talking about a ninth or 10th, 11th century church and we couldn't. We couldn't get into. A lot of times I couldn't get into the churches.
Speaker 2:So, but someone had someone had told me that you know kind of heads up on that, but being there and like wanting to go in these churches and not being able to get into them was kind of kind of a downer in a way. If there was any downer on the trip, yeah, so I guess that was it. And I think just realizing what little you need to take with you, you know when you're packing, you know you get into the routine every day, so it's you think about your backpack every day, about you know, do I really need all this stuff? What can I leave behind?
Speaker 1:So yeah, did you find yourself shedding things that you thought you needed, that you didn't?
Speaker 2:I did yes, I did Absolutely yes. Um, you know, my backpack was was within the range they said about 10% of your body weight. So I was carrying probably around 16 pounds total with everything. And I realized that there were some things that I brought. Like, I brought a lightweight hoodie that was not the best quality as far as material to dry and wash, and so along the way, maybe like a third of the way, I just decided you know what I'm going to, I'm going to wash it, I'm going to dry it, I'm going to give it to some, you know, to the, to the Albergue, the hostel, and some pilgrim will want it. Um, I also brought like an extra pair of long pants and I found myself you know what, I'm wearing a pair today and I have an extra pair. I don't really need a third pair. So that was kind of very therapeutic for me as well, very therapeutic.
Speaker 1:I love the spiritual lessons that people come away from the Camino with that are usually attached to attachment and detachment that I thought that I needed all this in life and I have this baggage, and how can the Lord free me from that? And finding freedom in less and shedding those things, whether it's a bad habit or an extra pair of pants what does the Lord want us to shed today on our Camino through life? I think that's just a really powerful reflection.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely, cause you know you have a lot of time for reflection, as you're walking every day, I guess, averaging about 13 to 15 miles per day, and you do have so much time to kind of listen to God, um, to kind of reevaluate your life and, to be honest with you, I, I was able to like go back over my entire life from like growing up in New York and my time in in middle school, my time in high school, my time in college um, just thinking about all the people that you know that I've encountered that have helped me along my way, all the struggles that you face, and you're right, going back to the backpack, it's an exercise in you know what do we need and then, like you know, when we get back home, all the things that we accumulate. You know, being such a materialistic society, it really has helped me reevaluate my life and become more simplistic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that reliance on others even. I mean, somebody maybe really needed that hoodie and you were able to pay it forward but we also rely on others, you know, like maybe you don't need to cover every possibility in your backpack, because maybe someone will have something that you need and that yeah, I just feel like there's a lot of spiritual lessons on the camino, more so even than any other trip, right?
Speaker 2:I hear these coming out of you know, they always the buzzword, the buzz sentences.
Speaker 2:The camino will provide so uh, you know like you know, when I first heard this, what does that mean? Does that mean like, do I not take any money with me? And it's just like going to be provided. And you know, there were some pilgrims that walk with you know bare minimum, and they go into the Camino with the attitude of that it will provide for like everything. They'll find housing, they'll find somebody that will give them food, but yeah, and the Camino does provide. It's just a strangest phenomenon, you know phenomenon yeah, because the Lord provides right.
Speaker 1:It's very biblical, absolutely and, of course, walking.
Speaker 2:you know, walking those days and doing reflection. You can't help but think about the thousands and thousands of pilgrims over the years that have walked this route, and the stories, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, I think sometimes you know, even thinking about the Camino will provide, when it's the Lord providing. Sometimes there's kind of like this mystique around the Camino that attracts people who aren't even Christian, don't have no belief in the idea of St James and a pilgrimage to his tomb, which, of course, the Camino is. Did you encounter a lot of people from other faiths, from other backgrounds, who aren't Christian, who weren't making this for Christian purposes, and why do you think those people are drawn to the Camino as well?
Speaker 2:Yes. So I run into a variety of people, no doubt Christians and non-Christians. The one sentence I kept hearing over and over again from some people that I walked alongside, or people that when I walked into churches, the ones that were open in the cathedrals, they were in awe of the beauty of these churches, but then they would. They would kind of lean over to me and say, you know, I'm not really religious and I I think I missed Joan, I think I missed the opportunity on the first Camino. I heard that so often and I was thinking is God reaching out to me, like hitting me with the newspaper and saying, hey, wake up. This is an opportunity. And at times I did. I shared my faith when I felt comfortable, but there were so many opportunities that I could have really told them the good news and shared the good news.
Speaker 2:So people do you know, obviously they go for religious reasons, they want to get closer to God, and I saw a lot of that. I saw a lot of tears. I saw a lot of people in joy during the pilgrim's masses, enjoy. During the pilgrims masses, each kind of each night there's a, there's always a pilgrims mass that they offer to bless the pilgrims and it's pretty well attended. And looking around and I you know you don't have to be christian, you don't have to have beliefs. It's just one of those things and I always encourage people to to attend that pilgrims mass and everybody walks out with a smile and they just feel like you know they receive the special blessing that helps them.
Speaker 2:Whatever this, whatever they're struggling with others, do the camino for you know, maybe it could be a change in their career, maybe they're dealing with an addiction, maybe they're trying to overcome something that you know, just get a different outlook on their life. All different ages. I walked with college kids and I walked with one small family and I walked with a lot of older people as well. I walked with single people, married people, so yeah.
Speaker 2:And you know, and you try not to pry with kind of you kind of respect people's privacies, but when you're you know, it's just it's. It's those moments that people feel comfortable with you and they open up to you. Sure, and when I got back from the Camino, I kind of realized that you know, hey, maybe that was what I was supposed to accomplish, maybe I was just supposed to be a good listener, maybe people feel comfortable enough with me that they opened up to me and, uh, they, they needed that in their, on their, in their lives right now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when you look at the Camino as I mean you said on your first Camino you wonder like should I have said more? Should I have shared my faith more? Did that change on either your, your second Camino or when you were volunteering? Did you approach it differently because you knew that these things were going to come up?
Speaker 2:Yes absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what I, what I, um, when I came back from the Camino, uh, what are the things that? Uh, one of the goals or my, my thoughts on the first Camino was you know God, where do you want me to go in life? You know, I retired as a middle school teacher. I had. I have time. You've given me the time. You've obviously given me some talents. What's my next step in life? And you know, I'm still working on that, but my volunteering has helped me establish that. Just being kind to people and just showing through actions. I think that's helped me a lot. I can show my spirituality and my Christianity through doing things for doing things for other people and, you know, and and and blessing people along the way. Just, you know, just telling them, you know I'll pray for you. If somebody was going through something would always, would always go about asking people to you know if it's okay for them, for me to pray for them, and then, on this Camino, for me to pray for them.
Speaker 2:And then, on this Camino working, I had an opportunity to meet 15 to 16 pilgrims a day, new pilgrims that were starting their Camino. So I felt like, okay, god, I'm going to listen to your challenge, I'm going to do my best, and I had some opportunities to do that. One particular story I can think about is there was a gentleman from the United States who, after talking to him, he lost his father a couple of months ago and he was doing this Camino, and I just simply said to him your dad's with you on this Camino, he's with you every step of the way.
Speaker 2:Don't ever forget that. And you know, he gave me a hug and then, like he like, he teared up and he said Thank you. That means a lot to me. The other thing is to remind the pilgrims we did it. There was a mass in St John. Every night it's at seven o'clock and it was a mass, a short Catholic mass, and they they do it in Basque, so it's in the Basque language and that's. That was really nice. But I always encourage pilgrims to, before dinner is to to attend this mass and to get a blessing, and so I felt like that was another way I could outreach to people, even though you may not attend mass. Maybe you don't know what's going on, but it's just one other aspect of that.
Speaker 1:So so yeah, so yes I did.
Speaker 2:I did kind of wake up a little bit and say, okay, all right, here's, I could's, I could do, this, I could do this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I do feel like there are so many opportunities that are probably, you know, there's so many opportunities because the Camino is such a vulnerable time where people are looking for answers and so often when we try to share the gospel, sometimes we try to share it with people who aren't looking for answers, you know. And so I had a friend who did the Camino, who had the same comment that you did about the churches being closed and how difficult that was to see and how surprising it was, because she said I'm on this spiritual journey, I want to go into these churches and and to visit Jesus and and see Christ in, you know, in the Eucharist and um, and what a great Testament that would be for those people who maybe are looking and are looking for answers. And so we laughed and said we should start a nonprofit that goes and works at all these churches and preaches the gospel and just shares the good news at all these little churches. So, greg, if we ever do that, I'm going to recruit you to go with us, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Wouldn't that be. It would just be phenomenal because there are so many people searching?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and there was one town and I ran into there was a volunteer at one of the churches and that was like his role, like he had, he had decided he was going to relocate to Spain and you know older gentlemen, and uh, that's what he does every day. He spends several hours in the church and he greets people and he tells them all about the church and the history. And uh, I was like, oh yes, this is something I'd love to do.
Speaker 2:I can pull that off, but yeah, that was, that was a special moment as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Such a beautiful way to evangelize at a moment in people's lives, I think. So let's talk about your volunteering, because I think that's a really unique chance. I've had a lot of people walk the Camino, but I've never met someone who volunteered in that way. And you told us a little bit what drew you to it, but, um, and you've told us some of your experiences evangelizing. Um, but what did you, what did you find in that, in that experience? And? Um, you know, would you do it again? Would you encourage others? What, what? Just tell us a little bit about that, Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's such a great, wonderful experience. Um, you know, I, I there's the the American, the American Pilgrims on Camino is an organization here in the States. They have different chapters around the country and every year they have like three or four different places where you can go to do training and it's like a two or three day training, which is great. And I kind of looked at my calendar and I could. It didn't work out for me this past year to make any of those trainings.
Speaker 2:But I found a friend of mine from Jacksonville I live in North Florida. She called me and we were talking and she told me about this one place in St John and she said, hey, if you're going back to do a Camino and you really want to volunteer, let me put you in touch with the owner. So we did and, uh, and it worked out that, uh, he likes to have his volunteers go for two weeks at a time. So I was there for about 14 or 15 days and you know I was the friend of mine, told me a little bit about it but didn't give me all the details. So I didn't really know what I was getting involved in.
Speaker 2:But uh but, like I said, one of my dreams was to be an owner of a hotel and operate a hotel. So this was great for me to experience this. So I just kind of jumped in and part of my daily routines was to check in the pilgrims, to greet them, to get them settled into a bed or a room that they had. We did reservations, so we always checked the reservation book. Basically it was just welcoming them and kind of putting that ease. They're getting ready to start their Camino.
Speaker 2:Obviously, having walked the camino, I was able to help them with any questions that they might have had, without telling them too much, because you never want to spoil somebody's camino and the camino is different for everybody, as you, as you probably know from previous uh interviews that you had. And then I would help in the kitchen prepare the meal. We offered a simple vegetarian meal every night. So that got me out of my comfort zone a little bit. I like to cook, but I'm not like a great cook and I can be a good helper. So I was like, okay, tell me what I need to do.
Speaker 2:You're the sous chef do you're the sous chef? Yeah, between you and I, I never want to peel any more carrots or potatoes. I never want to chop up vegetables. Uh, for a while I, I, you know I did that. Yeah, so, and then we set up, you know, set up the table, and we always did an introduction every night to to find out where the pilgrims were from, and then kind of ask them also, you know what, what brought them to the community? What do they, you know, hope to gain from the community? And our host it was one he's been doing this for about 10 years and he was a great person to work under taught me a lot about just welcoming people and putting people at ease and inspiring them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that biblical virtue of hospitality I think is often lost in our world. I think sometimes we think of virtues as being these big hard things like temperance and prudence and we forget the very human virtues like hospitality and just making people feel at home. Right In Scripture it says like be hospitable because you may be entertaining angels. And just that idea that each of us have dignity and each of us have a story, and especially as someone's beginning their Camino, that beautiful Christian charity of just putting them at ease and making them feel known and loved. I think there's a lot to be said there.
Speaker 2:How many volunteers were there? Some of these pilgrims come in they're very some of them and making them feel known and loved. I think there's a lot to be said there, absolutely. How many volunteers were there? So many pilgrims come in? They're very nervous. I mean, they're just, you know, they're solar, they're by themselves and here they have this backpack and you know, do I have everything I need? One of the things we had at this particular albergue is we had the pilgrims leave their backpacks in a secluded area and then we only had them take like up to their room, to their bed area was just a box with just what they needed that night to get through the night. So that was kind of like the first step in preparing them for their stays in these Albergues along the way. Yeah, you know what do you need? And just kind of think about the things that they brought. And so that was. I think that's why he does it. I think he, I think that's why the host does that, because he's kind of setting that tone right at the beginning.
Speaker 1:Sure, I love it. Yeah, putting those lessons and those that thought in their head early on what, how many volunteers were there and how is your Spanish?
Speaker 2:Ah good, so I was the only volunteer. Wow, there was the, the owner, and then he has a basically a full-time helper, his assistant, who does a lot of the cooking and prep work, and then in the morning he has a lady that comes in and she kind of just straightens up a little bit. So it's basically the four of us each day. So our day started at 3 o'clock in the afternoon when the pilgrims check in at three, and then I basically was up till about probably 1030 every night just cleaning the kitchen. I did a lot of dishes because yeah, did a lot of dishes for at the nighttime and breakfast. So when I was ready to go, when I hit the pillow, I was out. It was like, oh, it's such a long day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but such a fulfilling, I can't imagine how fulfilling it would be.
Speaker 2:So when I first showed up, it was like, you know, I'm going home, like, okay, what do I need to do? What do I need to do? And they trusted me so much with different tasks and I really did appreciate that they didn't really know me. We talked on the phone, we talked on WhatsApp, but like from day one it was like there was a they felt at ease with me and it was like, okay, well, you can check the Pilgrims in, we feel comfortable about this. At night, I basically would stay with the pilgrims. The owner lived like kind of in the next town, so it was maybe like a 10 or 15 minute drive. So basically when he left at night, I was kind of in charge, like from day one. I was like, okay, wow, god, you're in charge, you know, and luckily there was no incidences or anything like that and everybody's so tired, they go to sleep.
Speaker 1:Yeah. They would wake up in the morning, but yeah, Did you find communication difficult because you have people from all over, or was it pretty? Yeah, what was that like?
Speaker 2:Yes, so my French is not very good. I tried to practice a couple of words, but it did. I botched that up, but my Spanish is better. I can read, I can speak a little bit Spanish and I can understand a little bit, as long as people are speaking a little slower, little slower, but I've. I kind of like, over the last two years I've been working online with with some online tutors, because I really love Spain.
Speaker 2:I really see myself going back to Spain every year and maybe volunteering again, like you asked. Would I be interested in doing this again? Absolutely, I absolutely would, and so most I would say probably 75% of the people that I came across did speak some English, which was really helpful. A lot of French, and so the language barrier wasn't too bad yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm sure there was some creative sign language and some creative communication tools, absolutely, absolutely, like he had his, the host, he had the rules, he like he had all the, the, the, the events, like the time schedule for each day, and so I would just show people and go over it, like, okay, this is the check-in time, this is when you have to check out, this is, you know, this is the do's and don'ts and the quiet hours, and so that was that was helpful.
Speaker 1:What advice would you have for someone who is thinking about doing the Camino but is unsure? Like they've heard about it, it's intriguing to them. What piece of advice would you give that person?
Speaker 2:Well, I would say you know that saying let go and let God, like just you know, be all in, be adventurous, kind of get out of your comfort zone. It's so fulfilling and so rewarding. Don't be afraid, you know, put your trust and faith in your faith it's. There's so many different caminos that you can walk so many segments. You don't have to do the whole. You know 500 kilometer, you know 500 mile venture. There's so many different segments that you could do. So it's what you feel comfortable with and people know their own physical, their physical sort of thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:What they're able to do physically and they know themselves spiritually as well. And what are they searching for? What are they looking for? But the physical part, it would be up to them. As far as what they could accomplish, sure, yeah, but I would encourage, I absolutely encourage them. Uh, coming back home, I've run into so many people that have said, well, I can never do a communal. I'm like you know what you could do it, you could do it, just have to kind of put your mind to it and you know, don't be afraid. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think I like how. I like how you mentioned like you don't have to do the whole thing, it's you know. I mean your Camino is your Camino, right, and you know, if you think you can't do the whole thing, like you can still do a Camino and I think that's, that's very reassuring.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what advice would you give someone who maybe has decided they're going and they're going to go, and do you have any advice? I know you don't want to say too much, you don't want to spoil it for that person, but do you have any advice for them before they set off?
Speaker 2:Yeah, just be open to your daily experiences and take it all in. It's not a race, it's what you do every day and it's just take every moment that you have everything that kind of God's thrown out at you, whether it's looking at animals along the side of the road or the beautiful flowers, the mountains, maybe it's in conversation with people. Maybe some days that you just want to, you want a quiet day where you're just not going to talk to anybody, and that's fine too. And maybe there's a day that you really want to talk to. You know you want to join in with some people and talk to them. So I think my advice is just be open to what the Camino gives you, because every day is different.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I feel like both of those pieces of advice are good for anybody living the Christian life and I know that so often the Camino is that microcosm of the Christian life, but both of those pieces of advice are probably things we need to take into our daily life just to be open, to be ready for what the Lord has to give us. So often we want to control our lives and control our timetables and what if the Lord wants to surprise us? And are we open to that?
Speaker 2:I totally agree.
Speaker 1:Yeah, as we wrap up, is there anything else you'd like to share a story you know, anything else you'd like to share about your time on the Camino and to share with us that experience?
Speaker 2:You know there's so many stories. You know I could talk hours and hours on the Camino. You know I could talk hours and hours on the Camino. This has been wonderful for me because it's it's allowed me to re-experience my Camino. But one thing that I took with me on the Camino was for confirmation.
Speaker 2:We have we ordered these the pins of the Holy Spirit, and the particular ones that I had were blessed by the Bishop of St Augustine. So I carried those with me and my goal was people along the way, anybody that made an impact on me or they needed some kind of spiritual uplifting. I would give them a pin, and to me that was the most rewarding thing. It was incredible, and the first person I gave a pin to was this guy that was just kind of sitting on the side of the road and I wasn't going to stop and talk to him. I was like, nah, you know what, he's in his, he's in his zone. You know I don't want to bother him. But then something said you know what, Stop and talk to him. And I did, and we got to talking and he actually helped me with. There was an app that I didn't know about which helped me prepare my daily routines and my route and also places to stay.
Speaker 2:He lives in Brazil. I gave him one of the pins and he was so appreciative of that and I told him, I said again you're never alone. The Holy Spirit is with you and the Holy Spirit will protect you and guide you along the day, along your route, and I'm a firm believer on that. I think the Holy Spirit is our advocate, he's our paraclete, he's with us every day. And his story was that he was a martial arts instructor back in Brazil and his goal was to open up his own studio.
Speaker 2:And after a couple months of him being back in Brazil, he shared with me that he was able to open up his studio. So I am just like so proud of him and uh, and and kind of, that's how, that's how I, that's how I uh distributed the pins, uh, people to help me, or I just saw something, whether they were in in the church at the time and they were at the mass and they were receiving a bill of the pilgrims blessing, and I could just see in their, in their expression, that they were in awe and I just knew that God was somehow speaking to them and just they were. You know, you know that saying about God puts people in your lives, along your path. It's, it's so true.
Speaker 2:Like so many people you run into that are that are helpful and it's, it's truly an amazing experience for me. My no, no regrets it was it changed my life. It really did and and, like you said, when you come back into reality, when you come back to the states and you come back to your, your life, you take so many things from the camino and you come back to your, your life. Um, you take so many things from the Camino with you every day.
Speaker 1:Yeah absolutely.
Speaker 1:Beautiful. Thank you, greg, I'm. You have to wonder if somebody's telling a story on some who knows where in the world and your pin is part of their story. And you don't know that right, you don't know what somebody's story might be. And they said I needed a sign or I needed a reminder, and this guy gave me this Holy Spirit pin and changed my life. And one thing I can't wait for heaven is to see how all of our lives make up that tapestry and how we've all intersected, even in ways we might not know, and how our story has impacted someone else's story. And so it'll be a fun reunion, hopefully for you someday in heaven to meet all these Camino uh, fellow Camino walkers and to see where their their lives have gone you know, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:So well. Thanks, Greg. Thanks for joining us. I really appreciate the conversation. Um thanks for the and listeners. Share this with someone. Maybe you know someone who would be perfect to walk the Camino. Maybe you're thinking about it, but share this episode with someone who might be thinking about it. Maybe this is the encouragement they need, just like Greg got his postcard, and that postcard changed his life. So be that person that encourages others. God bless.
Speaker 2:All right, wing Camino.
