Pilgrimage from Dingle to Santiago
One of my very favorite cheesy rom-coms is called Leap Year (starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode). It is about two people who predictably drive each other crazy and then, of course, fall in love on an ill-fated journey across Ireland from Dingle to Dublin. I hate to confess how many dozens of times I have seen this movie, but suffice it to say that I can quote way too many of the lines by heart (and for someone with as crummy a memory as I have, that is really saying something!). Little did I know that this quirky film would set in motion a series of events that would transform my calling to ministry.
Inspired by the beautiful Irish landscape in the film, my husband and I traveled to Ireland last fall and embarked upon a hiking trip along the gorgeous, rugged coastline of the Dingle Way. The distances we walked stretched me beyond my physical comfort zone, and yet my soul was surprisingly revitalized by the slow and spacious pace. In other words, we inadvertently stumbled upon an experience of sacred pilgrimage.
I have since learned that the Dingle Peninsula has a long and deep history as a land of sacred pilgrimage. For centuries, pilgrims from across Ireland would walk in the footsteps of St. Brendan the Navigator (ca. 484- ca. 577) to the port of Dingle where they would board a boat headed directly south to the Northern coast of Spain and continue their pilgrimage on the Camino toward Santiago de Compostela. This connection between sacred pilgrimages in Ireland (The Celtic Camino) and Spain (The Camino de Santiago) has been a thrilling realization for me.
Who knew that a cheesy little rom-com would lead me to discover the gift of pilgrimage in Dingle and that in turn would open doors for me to share the Pilgrimage in the Belly of the Whale & Beyond retreat on the Camino de Santiago in Spain?! God truly is a master weaver of seemingly disconnected threads!
What seemingly disconnected threads might God be weaving together in your life? As a fellow everyday pilgrim, may we open our hearts and walk together toward whatever sacred surprises may unfold before us along the way.
Photo: St. James Church in Dingle, Ireland. For centuries, pilgrims would stop here before boarding a boat to Spain to walk the Camino toward the St. James Church in Santiago de Compostela. Note the shell at the entrance to the church in Dingle. This shell is a well known symbol of pilgrimage on the Camino in Spain and a beautiful symbolic connection between the Celtic Camino and the Spanish Camino.
