Paris first. Then off to St. Jean Pied de Port for the first night of the formal Camino. At least that is what I thought.

‘Brian, it sounds like you are approaching this with a “ready, fire, aim” strategy.’ I wasn’t sure what he meant. “Think about it, Brian,” he said. Finally, I stated the obvious. “Oh, you mean I am firing at my target before I really know what my target is.” He smiled and said, “Bingo.”

My soul seems called to something I might name as “nurturing a pilgrimage culture.” There is a lot I don’t know about what that means yet, but two pieces are quite clear to me.

Pilgrimages don’t actually start the day you take Step One on some specific route. Pilgrimages start the day that you DECIDE when you are going to take Step One.