Today was the first walk of my second week of the Intervarsity Digital Camino. If you haven’t read any previous posts related to this Camino journey, check these out:

• A Heart Set on Pilgrimage
• Digital Camino Week 1 – Simplicity

Our focus this week is “presence” – specifically the presence of God throughout our journey. The audio companions reminded us that God gave himself the name “I Am”, present tense, and that Jesus was called “Emmanuel”, meaning “God with us”.

It may seem obvious that God, being an omnipresent being, is always with us. As followers of Jesus we all believe this tenet of orthodox Christianity. It’s a given.

And yet, we forget.

As a worship leader, along with my musical duties, I believe that I have a responsibility to communicate an accurate representation of God’s character and of the main theological principles of scripture. In other words, “the basics”.

One area of confusion that I have had to deal with is songs that say things like, “Come, Holy Spirit” or sayings like “God showed up”. If you believe that God is omnipresent then the Holy Spirit is always with us. Why do we have to ask him to come? What happens when God doesn’t “show up”? Is he somewhere else?

The way that I usually try to explain this is that it has more to do with our perspective and acknowledgement of God’s presence than about where he is located. The Holy Spirit is with me but I don’t always acknowledge that or live as if it were true. In fact, many times I ignore God and behave as if he is not there. Sometimes I don’t feel as if God is there and I may feel lonely or abandoned. This does not mean he is not there, rather it means that I am not aware of his presence.

This is huge.

Being aware of God’s presence makes all the difference. When I am NOT aware of his presence then I end up bearing burdens that I am not able to bear alone. I end up making decisions based on my own understanding. I end up being distracted and possibly wandering off the path.

There are so many things we can do to “practice” his presence, as many people say. We read and meditate on scripture. We spend time in prayer. We practice fellowship and hospitality (on Zoom). And most importantly, as we were encouraged during this week’s walk, we need to slow down and listen.

Slow down.

Listen.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.

Psalm 23:2-3

For me, it is nearly impossible for me to truly acknowledge God’s presence unless I slow down, quiet down, unplug, and listen. And this doesn’t just mean listen to God in a spiritual sense but to listen to the sounds around me. I live in a semi-urban area and when I start to listen to the sounds around me I begin to hear traffic, airplanes, alarms, landscaping and construction equipment. But as I get quieter I start to hear the other reminders of Creator God’s presence: songbirds, hawks, squirrels, the wind. I see butterflies and bees and the movement of leaves and branches.

Breathe in and out. Be thankful for being alive. It begins there. Then I am prepared to receive from God, for him to remind me of who he is through reading of scripture and through the practice of prayer.

Today, I started my digital camino with Intervarsity. I was asked to take a picture of my feet as I entered the “liminal space” on the threshold before I embarked on my journey. One of the things we are pondering is what it means to be in an “in between” space and this exercise was instructive as I considered where I am in my stage of life. There are many things I have accomplished and I also have many goals. But most of life is spent in this liminal space and we should not lose sight of what God is doing during those times.

This first week of the camino is focusing on simplicity. Our audio guide led us through some breathing prayers and meditations but there were two moments on my walk that ended up being very meaningful to me.

My Camino Stone

It is customary for pilgrims to carry a small stone from near their home as they walk the pilgrimage. Our audio guide encouraged us to select a small stone on our first walk that we would carry with us throughout the journey. Here is a photo of the piece of limestone that I found as I walked on the campus of Barry University near our home.

As we neared the completion of our walk (around 60 minutes) we were asked to meditate on whether God was saying anything to us during today’s journey. After thinking about my stone I think I had some clear insight.

I am about to turn 55 years old. As I have written before about numbering your days, I have a desire to do something of significance that will last beyond my lifespan. This is what I was thinking about as I found this stone. What is the sum of my life? Will anyone remember me and for how long? Will the people I have influenced in a positive way remember me and carry on what I started? Does any of it matter?

Deep stuff.

Anyway, this rock. It’s a piece of limestone but if you look closely you will see some small shells and bits of coral. That’s what limestone is. Ancient sediment from the sea floor compressed into a chalky rock. When I saw this tiny shell I immediately thought about the clam shell which is the symbol of the Camino. You see it everywhere on the way to mark the path. Pilgrims also carry a shell with them as a marker that they are on pilgrimage. So, I thought that was cool.

Consider this tiny shell embedded in the limestone. It drifted quietly to the sea floor thousands of years ago. Who was there to witness it? It was covered and compressed into a layer of sediment. After thousands of years of obscurity it was dug up in a quarry new Miami and maybe used to build a building or some other structure. Then that structure was torn down and demolished. The fragment of limestone was discarded and forgotten, until I picked it up this morning. And now this tiny shell in a piece of limestone is a part of me. It means something to me. Who was there along the way?

The answer is the Creator was there every step of the way. My life is much more significant than a tiny shell in a piece of limestone. Jesus said as much in Matthew 10:31. But, this got me thinking. If God can bring that tiny shell through thousands of years to say something to me, then what could he do with my life if I just do my part to walk my journey and let him take care of what people remember? This was a liberating thought and a gift on my first day of my camino.

Peregrino, ¿Quién Te Llama?

Another highlight from this morning was the recitation of a poem that is painted on a wall near Nájera, Spain along the Camino Frances. The poem, “Peregrino, ¿Quién te llama?” is translated, “Pilgrim, who calls you?” and was written by Eugenio Garabay Baños. The poem was included in our prepared notes in Spanish and English. The photo below shows the Spanish version and then I’ll include the English translation.

Dust, mud, sun and rain are the Camino de Santiago.
Thousands of pilgrims and more than a thousand years.
Pilgrim, Who calls you? What mysterious force draws you here?
Not the Field of Stars, nor the great cathedrals.
Not the beauty of Navarra, nor the wine of Rioja
not the seafood of Gallicia, nor the fields of Castilia.

Pilgrim, Who calls you?
What mysterioius force draws you here?
Not the people of the Camino, nor their rural customs.
It is not the history and the culture, nor the rooster of Calzada
not the palace of Gaudi, nor the Castle of Ponferrada.

All these things I see in passing, and they are all a great joy,
but the voice that calls me fills me with an even greater feeling.
The force that compels me, the force that draws me here
I cannot explain: Only the One above knows!