A lifetime on the road

Our physical path of life
We are already on the move after our conception in the womb, as a popular saying beautifully describes a woman's pregnancy: "Something is on the way." The new creature then leaves the mother's womb, usually after nine months, and begins its earthly existence with a mighty cry. There, the delicate newborn lies, helpless and asleep, at the beginning of its life's journey, and is soon placed in a crib or a crib. Unlike many animals, we humans are, in the truest sense of the word, nestlings and therefore still entirely dependent on our mother's milk and care. Without parental nurture and care, we would hardly survive. But after a short time, the human urge to move becomes noticeable, and the sweet babies quickly land in the nursery. This is when the children reach their limits for the first time, even if they are still rolling and scampering on all fours.

Between twelve and eighteen months of age, we learn to stand on our feet and move upright. We now experience and learn about things, other people, and animals from a different perspective. How funny it is when a toddler plays with a kitten or runs after a dog! However, little ones' steps are often still clumsy and unsteady.

From around the age of six, we no longer move through life on foot, but instead rely on a bicycle as a convenient means of transport. How independent this makes us feel as students! To put it bluntly, only the blind and lame walk to school. And soon, teenagers are only too happy to race their younger schoolmates. Exploring life and the world no longer takes place solely on one's own two feet, but increasingly on two wheels. And it's only a matter of about four years before most of the boys are turning onto the high road of life on four wheels. In our country, you're only somebody when you can drive a car! When modern people are on the move, they no longer need their feet for marching and hiking, but rather for accelerating and braking. In this age of private transport and mass tourism, we use our feet to give our lives the necessary kick—unfortunately, often the final, fatal push! In plain language, that means death on the road! In keeping with the times, one could sing the beautiful song
We'd sing "Take me home country roads" if we still had time to mourn the dead. But instead, these days, they're usually driven in black limousines directly from the hospital to the funeral home or even the crematorium. So, horizontal and rigorous as death, we roll along briskly in our four-wheeled vehicles!

Hardly anyone these days has the desire or time to accompany their loved one on their final journey and thus process the grief of the painful loss on foot. Walking in these depressed moods would be very good not only for the body but also for the soul!

Our spiritual path through life

But we humans are also on a lifelong spiritual journey, searching for the meaning of existence. We're much more likely to find it on extended walks and long hikes than in the daily hustle and bustle of traffic. When we're on foot, we can keep pace with our thoughts or take a rest when needed. And a break at the right time often works wonders: Our feet bring us back to ourselves and closer to God. The writer Silja Walter expresses this so poetically in the poem with the meaningful title "Vagantenlied" (Vagarian Song) that the following two verses should become a handbook for all hikers. They read as follows:

We move through the late day
past the yellow moon.

In ankles, knees and hearts wear
I sweet dizziness.
We wander far. I sing along.

And all the dancing and trotting
fades away and clatters without a shoe
past the moon to God.

So we are vagabonds in the positive sense - the word comes from Latin and means something like "wanderers" - when we set out on the Way of St. James on the eve of a new millennium. As pilgrims we are always on the way to God and to ourselves. That we can often stray, experience all kinds of adversity and go astray is something we already know from the Old Testament story of our forefather Jacob. But even for him the starry sky was a reliable guide when he had to leave his homeland. And the three wise men from the East also used the starry sky to orient themselves both on their way to the baby Jesus in the stable in Bethlehem and on their flight from King Herod. So we too are not alone on the Way of St. James, even in the greatest need.

Anyone who embarks on the Way of St. James today, the oldest cultural route in Europe, is, as already mentioned, also on a journey inward. Whether or not a pilgrim ultimately arrives in Santiago de Compostela on Spain's Atlantic coast is ultimately of little importance. What matters is the journey, not the destination! The Way of St. James leads through such diverse regions as Thurgau and central Switzerland to the beautiful Bernese Oberland, or in northern Spain through the fertile countryside of Navarre, where the large number of pilgrims can fortify themselves with the region's wonderful wines for the final long stage of the Camino, as the Way of St. James is called there. Refreshment for body and soul everywhere!

Traveling with like-minded people or pilgrims also means walking in the same direction with other people. This unites and strengthens us: Together we are stronger; together we reach our destination more quickly. This provides reliable support and help in case of difficulties on the long Way of St. James: You are much less exposed to dogs along the way, perhaps even wolves in the Pyrenees, as well as inclement weather such as snowstorms or torrential rains and sudden illnesses. Perhaps it is my fellow pilgrim who inspires me to endure the arduous journey from Lake Constance via the Hörnli and Etzel peaks to Einsiedeln Monastery, or "just before reaching our destination" through the dry spell in Galicia. Along the way, we become open, happily sharing our own hardships and life experiences with our companions, and sharing in their joys and sorrows. Gratitude and respect for our fellow human beings arise naturally.

Deep down, we all have a secret longing for that golden land where milk and honey flow; where no one pursues fame; where heroism, envy, hatred, and war are unknown; and where the highest rank is held not by rulers and generals, but by those who have known how to be human all their lives. But this El Dorado is not on the path of reality. Seeking it is certainly motivation enough for the thousands of pilgrims to walk a shorter or longer stretch of the Way of St. James.

Traveling with like-minded people means gaining new strength and renewed courage to live and love. And perhaps, after our journey through space and time, we will finally find the strength to bid the world adieu forever with a smile on our faces.

Jakob Salzmann