The way and the wondering

This was a challenging day on the Camino, our route took us along a wooded path with rocky sections, and a lot more uphills than we’ve seen so far. Overall, moving more slowly, taking more care with each step.

Yesterday I wrote this…

“I am hoping (praying) that my focus can shift to my heart and my soul as the journey continues. Or that I would find some clearer connection between what my body is experiencing and what my soul is searching for.”

This must have been rolling through my subconscious because I woke up this morning, reminded of a quote that I was familiar with, but could not remember where it came from…

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Google answered my question very quickly! De Chardin was a Jesuit priest who died in 1955.

This notion has helped me hugely today and quickly persuaded me, what I already kind of knew to be true… any attempt to separate our souls/spirits from our bodies is pointless. We are in essence spiritual beings, bound up in a flesh and bone body, a human experience.

So today, as I walked, I simply paid attention fully to my steps. A walking meditation of sorts. Soul, spirit, body in harmony. Not always an easy harmony, sections of the trail today were a lot scarier than the previously mentioned boardwalks!

And of course, another question emerged, which I offer to you now, and which I am continuing to ponder myself…

If we are spiritual beings having a human experience, does that mean that being spiritual should come more naturally than being human? And if so, what does that mean in terms of our daily lives?