A Sign of the Times

I think that long ago when people headed out on a pilgrimage that they swathed themselves in a heavy woolen and hooded cape. Picked up a loaf of bread and a flask of wine and struck out on the journey.  Somewhere over the last two millennia it became very necessary to identify yourself as a pilgrim on the way to Santiago de Compostela.  Through varied oral traditions of St. James the son of Zebedee(brother of John)a scallop shell was recognized as the sign of the true pilgrim on THIS pilgrimage.  The pilgrimage to. Rome is denoted by a cross or crossed keys.  The pilgrims to Jerusalem are adorned with a palm leaf. If you have read Paulo Coelho’s classic, The Pilgrimage, you will laughingly remember his difficulty in obtaining his shell once arriving in Spain.  This shell can be worn around your neck or on a hiking pole or on your backpack.  Ernest and I are stringing our shells from our packs.

Last summer, before we discovered the existence of el Camino, one of our grandsons collected shells off of Wrightsville, North Carolina beaches.  Loving most things cast on the shore by the ocean and adoring our grandchildren, I brought the shells home with us.  Ernest drilled holes in two of these shells and they are going to be our “sign of the time and place”

I have thought a bit about taking on the sign of a true pilgrim.  It seems that there is a vague web of constructs about what is expected. “A pilgrim gives thanks. A tourist demands.” Frugality, if not poverty, is presumed and highly honored.  Patience with oneself and others permeate.  Kindness and generosity are to be displayed flagrantly. 

I pray that as Ernest and I wear this shell sign;this pilgrim insignia, that we are true to its values…His characteristics.

Buen Camino