Not Just A Vacation

I've been doing some reading about the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James). I've collected several books over the years (see above) and then of course there's the internet, where I discovered the following passage from Codex Calixtinus, the very first guide book written for the Camino in the 12th century.

The pilgrim route is a very good thing, but it is narrow. For the road which leads us to life is narrow; on the other hand, the road which leads to death is broad and spacious. The pilgrim route is for those who are good: it is the lack of vices, the thwarting of the body, the increase of virtues, pardon for sins, sorrow for the penitent, the road of the righteous, love of the saints, faith in the resurrection and the reward of the blessed, a separation from hell, the protection of the heavens. It takes us away from luscious foods, it makes gluttonous fatness vanish, it restrains voluptuousness, constrains the appetites of the flesh which attack the fortress of the soul, cleanses the spirit, leads us to contemplation, humbles the haughty, raises up the lowly, loves poverty. It hates the reproach of those fuelled by greed. It loves, on the other hand, the person who gives to the poor. It rewards those who live simply and do good works; And, on the other hand, it does not pluck those who are stingy and wicked from the claws of sin.

Oh my. As I was reading this on Easter Sunday afternoon, John came into the room. "That Easter brunch we went to?" he said. "There was way too much food." And there was so much food. It was delicious and we ate our fill. But it was more than anyone needed.  John is especially sensitive to this issue as he spends a lot of time in Haiti, a place that is, to use the current euphemism, "food insecure."

Whenever a coincidence like this occurs--I am reading or doing or thinking something--and something else comes along and validates it or in some way connects to it--I wonder if God is trying to send me a message. We all have those serendipitous moments. 

So what is the possible message? I think it may be that this trip, which is in a lot of ways an extravagance, is not primarily a vacation. It's not primarily about having fun and eating out and relaxing and racking up the sites seen, although I'm sure--I hope!--it will contain some of that. It's a pilgrimage and it will hopefully be about growing closer to God, becoming more of the people He wants us to be. 

That sounds daunting, but maybe it's not as complicated as it seems. When I asked John what the solution to this dilemma was--the incredible abundance we have versus the scarcity that much of the world experiences-- he had a great, simple, doable one-word answer. 

Moderation.