This past week I watched a wonderful film called The Way, the Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez movie which honors the Camino de Santiago. The Spanish term for the Way of St. James, this pilgrimage has lasted for over a thousand years and is believed to lead to tomb of St. James the Apostle. As I watched that journey unfold I realized that the journey of our faith is a pilgrimage.

            The movie deals with a man who loses his son who was hiking the Way of St. James, as a testament to his love for his son, he takes the rest of the journey as a pilgrimage to honor and memorialize his loss. Aren’t we all on a journey? Aren’t we all hiking towards a place that leads us to a greater understanding of our God and ourselves?      

            As the protagonist goes along the way, he sees things and images that reminds him of his lost son. God appears a lot like that lost son, in images, moments of time that bring us to the heart of faith. This God is one who comes to us in the hardest parts of our journeys and reassures us, God comes to us as we walk the way of life and says there is grace to be experienced. God comes to us and encourages us to enjoy the journey.

            I looked around at my friends; some of them are going on the journey of life for the laughter, the joy. Some are looking for true happiness, some are looking for answers, but the best friends that I like to keep in my life are simply the friends who are on this journey for the journey itself.

            I have a quote that hangs over my bed, and it says the following, “Fall in love or fall in hate. Get inspired or be depressed. Ace a test or flunk a class. Speak the truth or tell a lie and cheat. Dance on tables or sit in the corner. Life is divine chaos, embrace it, forgive yourself and enjoy the ride.” When we’re enjoying the divine chaos of this journey, look around and smell the flowers. Watch a sunrise with a best friend, or see the stars shoot across the sky. It is in those moments that God truly becomes incarnate.

            One of the great hymns of the church is For the Beauty of the Earth. These words speak out to us this day, “For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies. Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
this our hymn of grateful praise. For the beauty of each hour, of the day and of the night,
hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light. Lord of all, to Thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise.” May we this week take comfort that the Lord is the God of our journeys. May we all find God on this journey of life. Thanks be to God.