Why Do People Climb Mountains?

If you're like me at some point walking to Ron Bias, you are asking yourself, why do people even climb mountains? Is it just to reach the top? To see the view calves burning, legs shaking, thirsty, and tired? Thinking of the 790 kilometers that lay ahead, you might have been second guessing the sanity of your decision to walk the Camino de Santiago, but you didn't stop. And in answering this invitation to find something more, you have decided to walk the path that so many who have walked before us have walked. And other words, you have chosen a life of faith. Now, you may not be thinking of your Camino as a life of faith, but for the followers of Jesus, faith is following an ancient path of sorts, trusting the voices and experiences of those who have gone before us. This is exactly what we're doing. Every time we see a yellow arrow pointing us towards Santiago de Compostela, we trust that someone has been here before and marked the path. Faith is like that. It's listening to the voices of a crowd of witnesses cheering us on today. We walk forward in faith, trusting the goodness of the path. Faith helps to build resilience and perseverance within us that keeps us going. Thank you, father, for this ancient place of pilgrimage, for the faith that has blossomed here and for worship in all seasons offered here for lives that have been touched here and commitment stirred into life here as we tread in the footsteps of our mothers and fathers in the faith. Bless us and all who come here and all who seek to follow the way and speak to us with the whisper of your love. For you are a God of renewal and faithfulness now and forever. Amen.