Reflections on Pilgrimage: Renewed Day By Day
FROM THE DESK OF OUR FOUNDER, RAMA ZIEGENHALS
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. - 2 Cor. 4:16
As many of you know, my husband (Tim) and I (Rama) like to go on walking pilgrimages. We have found that walking, even over long distances, can leave us feeling restored as we enjoy the restful pace in the beauty of creation over continuous days of walking. So, when my husband retired, our church, knowing how much we enjoy these walks, gave us the gift of a walking pilgrimage. We were excited and already knew the next walk we wanted to experience, the West Highland Way (WHW) in Scotland.
The WHW is an iconic walk encompassing 96 miles from the lowlands near Glasgow, to walking along Loch Lomond, to traversing the rugged Scottish Highlands. The scenery is diverse if not spectacular at times. We knew this walk might be a bit more challenging, and so we stretched it out over 9 days vs. the traditional 6 to 8 days. However, we were definitely not ready for how arduous a trek it turned out to be.
Now before I dive into the experience and lessons learned along the WHW, let me take a step back to set the stage. We were tired and in need of a vacation. We had just spent a year emptying our house of 30 years, renovating a family summer house to be our year-round home, moving from MA to NH, and downsizing significantly. This was all part of my husband’s retiring and having to say goodbye to dear friends, our beloved church, and a life that had been full. We were emotionally and physically tired. We thought a walk would be just the thing to help clear our heart and mind as we looked back with thankfulness and ahead to a new season with our children and grandchildren. As we prepared for this walking pilgrimage, I voiced that we were tired and needed to give ourselves grace if we had to skip a day or cut a day short with a cab or bus ride, and that that was ok. We could still enjoy ourselves and the scenery. Right? Wrong!
So here is the lesson I learned. Not a nice 3-point sermon lesson, just one big concrete, tangible lesson summed up by Paul in 2 Cor 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
I am going to begin with the “outwardly wasting away” lesson. This was much more of a hike than a walk! It is truer to say that we hiked 96 miles with some welcomed stretches of walking. And…we did not take days to rest because that would have meant missing parts of the “walk,” and apparently that is not something we are wired to do! We experienced our “older age” and the physical limits to our bodies that we were pressing against.
The first clue that this was going to be tough should have been all the young people we saw along the way on this trek. We were the token gray hairs. Many of these young people were backpacking their way along these 96 miles and they soon became companions who bolstered us on the way! Every walk we take comes to life, not just through the views but in the people we meet along the path and so let me introduce you to some of our walking mates that we hopscotched with over the course of the walk.
First, we met a pair of young Dutch girls who were walking the WHW together. We had a nice chat and then they bounded off ahead of us. They passed us again later only to find out that they had stopped at some famous distillery and had some “nice tasters.” Now here they were passing us again with a strong tail wind! Then we met the young couple we fondly called “Arizona” as that was where they were from. They became one of our regulars as they greeted us at the end of long days with that look of “you can do it,” usually having finished at least 2 hours earlier. Then there was the father and son duo who pointed out the next trail marker with instructions on finding the Inn. He happily suggested we would see them ahead and follow along. Of course, they disappeared out of sight not long after the next steep incline. Later came “runner girl.” She and her husband were running all 96 miles but stopped to help us find our way on a long, hard day to assure us that we were on the path and ONLY had 2 more miles to go (this was having already walked 12). They stopped another time when we again needed assurance that we had not taken the longest trail to the next bed! Then there were the two English boys who were backpacking, and each time we got to our next Inn, there they were sitting having their beers having already set up their camp site. It got to be a joke. The last time they laughed right out loud and pulled their caps over their eyes to pretend it wasn’t really them! All to say, gone were the days when we were the ones passing others at a good walking clip. We were usually the last ones in and had been passed all day. I was really ok with that (Tim not so much!) as long as we made it to the end each day.
But before I say more about the lesson of “outwardly wasting away,” I want to introduce you to three other encounters that were a profound part of our experience. On day 3, we met a couple from the States that I will call Bob and Ann. We spent some days walking with them and evenings chatting. Their story began to unfold as they shared with us the tragic death of their adult son. We didn’t ask many questions and were careful to respect their space, but we were willing to listen when they wanted/needed to share. Another encounter was with one of our B&B hostesses. In tears she shared with us her recent separation from her husband of over 30 years. It was a sacred time of listening as she trusted us with a piece of her spiritual journey to the island of Iona. And then there were the Danish friends (who were our age!), who we shared some evenings with and talked about world events and what they were seeing and experiencing politically in Europe. It was rich and deep conversation. This is the part of the walks that we love. Meeting people and sharing in a time set apart to be away on a walk, a time open to reflection and deep conversations.
Ok, but back to “wasting away.” It became obvious that this walk was going to be a challenge, and much more like hiking than walking. We knew we were tired coming in and that hiking 96 continuous miles was pushing our limits. We were feeling it. Both of our walking friends Bob and Ann and the Danish duo skipped what is considered to be one of the hardest sections of the WHW by taking a ferry. We had enjoyed watching that ferry while we had lunch not knowing it was our last chance for survival! Later, Bob and Ann declared that this was their vacation, and they were not going to kill themselves. Hmm, isn’t that what we had said? It felt so important and right for us to walk every mile. We could not imagine skipping sections. But then came a hard decision.
On our last two days of walking, heavy rains and wind were being predicted. And these two days were going to be long, hard hiking days of 14 and 15 miles. On the first day of heavy rain, we were hiking what is called Devil’s Staircase, a stretch leading up and over the highest point of the WHW. There we all were, a long train of hikers, with our heads down walking into the cold rain and heavy winds on an exposed trail and summit with no relief in sight. No one was looking up and no one was stopping to snack or eat, or anything else! After reaching the summit, I lost the feeling in my fingers due to a condition I have known as Raynaud’s. For the next 2 hours, I hiked with white numb fingers, becoming a bit scared to have them numb for so long (the gloves were not working). I survived, but the next day was predicted to be even worse conditions and the small town we stayed in that evening had no hand warmers for me to purchase in order to safely make the last day’s trek. So, we made the hard design to miss walking the last day.
I have to confess, I was crestfallen. I could not believe it. After all of those long days of walking and not missing any sections, we were not going to be able to finish the last day! Worse, Tim had shared with me the statistic that 75% of those who start the WHW, do not finish! I shed some tears. I had not imagined being a part of that statistic! The next morning, we got on the bus and there were Bob and Ann and our Danish duo. We smiled and took our seats. Later that day we bumped into the Dutch girls and Arizona. They all finished the day before and said it was a tough, hard, wet slog. In the meantime, we had planned one extra day after the walk to climb Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain (4,413 ft.) in the UK (we are gluttons for punishment). Would the weather get better? Could we use that day to go back and finish the WHW now that I had purchased hand warmers? You guessed it, we went back on the same bus the next morning and finished the last 15 miles!
So my big life lesson was twofold from the WHW walking/hiking pilgrimage. First, outwardly we are wasting away. We felt our age. It wasn’t a bad thing, just a real thing. Time goes in a straight line. We can’t stay young and strong forever. And as time goes on, life is laced with losses and goodbyes which includes our physical strength. Sooner or later, we have to let go of what we used to be able to do, and enjoy what we are still able to do.
And this leads to the second life lesson, inwardly we were being renewed day by day on this walk. This is huge! Yes, the WHW was a physical struggle, but if I let that overshadow my experience I would have missed the other truth, that I am being inwardly renewed each and every day. Every day, I can choose to pay attention to the fullness and joy of life that brings a sense of renewal and restoration. Each day I can experience the beauty of creation, of a heartfelt conversation, of comforting someone, of being encouraged, or simply being heard and seen. This is what renews life, life to the full, relationships, family, friends, laughter, support, and loving care for one another. Yes, we did it! We walked all 96 miles, and “outwardly” we might not have even started if we knew how arduous it was going to be. But “inwardly,” I shudder to think of all the new life moments we would have missed as we walked those miles together.
Ready for your own journey, but from the comfort of your home? Join Rama in the last remaining spaces in Transformational Listening 1 or our Certificate in Spiritual Formation!