Walking the Camino: Lessons from the Preparation
My friend Éric Hébert-Daly will be walking the Camino this summer! He sat down with me to talk about his preparation for the journey and has he has already learned about discipleship.
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We celebrated Pentecost last Sunday, which marks the day when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and all of the followers of Jesus shortly after Jesus ascended into heaven. Considered the birth of the church, Jesus’ followers were thus anointed and sent out to spread the message of Jesus Christ.
When I read the Pentecost story in Acts 2:1-21, I can imagine how heady the experience must have been for each of the people present. When I close my eyes I can feel the rush of the wind, the heat of the tongues of fire, and the cacophony of everyone speaking in their own languages, yet being understood by one another. While I close my eyes and sit in the Pentecost story, I can feel the energy and excitement that Jesus’ earliest followers must have felt.
Yet that was just the beginning of the church; the next part was to head out on paths untrod, to take journeys across the land, and ultimately across time, to take the message of Jesus Christ and share it as best it was understood, and to build relationships, as best as could be done, based upon that message.
It is this idea of the journey that Jesus’ followers would have taken after Pentecost that I am thinking about now, reflecting upon my conversation with my friend, the Rev. Éric Hébert-Daly, a few weeks ago. Éric is preparing to walk the Camino de Santiago this summer, a long-awaited pilgrimage in which he hopes to strengthen his commitment as a disciple, and as a member of the church. My prayer is that Éric feels anointed by the Holy Spirit as he begins his journey, and feels Her presence with him along the way.
Even if you don’t know Éric, you will know others who are taking journeys, both physical and metaphorical, this summer. So your Friday Nudge this week is to pray for Éric and others you know as they step out onto paths untrod, along journeys unknown.
As the verse from the hymn goes,
One more step along the road I go, one more step along the world I go,
from the old things to the new, keep me travelling along with you:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new; keep me travelling along with you.
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Walking the Camino: Lessons from the Preparation
An Interview with the Rev. Éric Hébert-Daly
Éric is the Executive Minister for the Eastern Ontario Outaouais, Nakonha:ka and East Central Ontario regional councils of the United Church of Canada. He and I have been friends for more than 10 years, and share many things in common, including our Acadian French heritage and love for the natural world. I was thrilled when he agreed to sit down with me before and after the journey he is about to take on the Camino. Unfortunately, he said “No!” to my coming along!
The Rev. Éric Hébert-Daly and I are camping buddies and fast friends. Every summer, he joins me and my family on a canoe camping trip where we leave behind the demands of our ministries and renew ourselves in the wider Earth community. (And I get another adult for my kids to entertain on the trip!).
This summer, however, Éric won’t be going camping with us, because he will be walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. While I teased him that I wanted to come along and he smartly refused, he agreed to be interviewed for Faith. Climate Crisis. Action before and after his trip. I wanted to learn more about why Éric plans to walk the Camino, how he is preparing to do so, and what it means for him in light of our shared ecological concerns and sense of discipleship.
Éric is flying to Spain on June 3rd and returning on August 4th. In the interview below, which I have edited and condensed for clarity and length, he shares what he hopes for on the trip, and the surprising wisdom that he has gained already, simply from the preparation. It is wisdom that can serve us well in our commitment to a discipleship that responds to the climate and ecological crisis. I cannot wait to hear what he learns from the trip itself! In the meantime, please enjoy what Éric shares with me before he leaves.
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