How I learned the meaning of Community
“The best journeys answer questions that in the beginning you didn’t even think to ask.”
We walk on a narrow uneven shoulder on the two lane road. When I don’t pay attention, I trip over rocks or slip in the sand. At times we can only walk single file and other times we are three across. The priest starts saying the rosary as soon as we hit the main road and the people in the group join in. They will do this intermittently for the entire walk. As the hours pass, I find myself saying the Our Father prayer I learned in childhood along with them without realizing I am doing it.
I had woken to “good morning, Em" that morning. Special friends who I had known for 20 years had been open to my joining them on this annual pilgrimage. We were walking from the church they had been married in 16 years ago. We drove up north the evening before from Albuquerque and I had stayed in my friend’s camper overnight. We were already seeing walkers last night as we drove in. Some will walk all night from as far away as Albuquerque (about 90 miles). Soon we get a ride to the church where we will be walking from. We wait while everyone gathers including the priest in walking clothes. At the front of the group, 3 young men walk together, one of them carrying a pole with a wooden cross on top. They will hand the cross off throughout the walk.
I feel happy and overwhelmed at times. Each person has their own story and yet all on this day are joined in a common purpose. The reasons for the walk are varied. I listen to stories as people pass by about families who have been walking together for 40 years. I experience the families, friendships, and sense of community and it makes me feel joy and hope. People can do something together I laugh to myself. After many years in New Mexico, I had never participated in this before. It seemed important to me this year. I am filled with gratitude for my friends who have shared their tradition with me.
The group falls into line and heads to the main road. Our walk will be to a destination 8 miles away, the Sanctuario de Chimayo. While not catholic, I have joined my friends as they walk with their family’s church. As we get to the main road, we merge into the already busy line of people walking. The sense of community is evident by people greeting each other and the many stops offering water or food along the way.
A mom and her children with their SUV open handing out water bottles. A table set up by some of the Sikh population in the area offering water and fruit and popcorn, murmuring Happy Easter. The local school honor society is there with water and oranges, and many many more. At one point as we get closer to Chimayo, a house on the route has a Christian rock band set up in the front yard and we are walking to live music. People in our group check in on the priest. Asking him, “father, are you doing okay”?
Friends greet my walking partners all along the way. Some walk with us for little while. One offers us a ride back to the church. The foot and vehicle traffic gets heavier the closer we get to our destination. People are singing. Some are holding hands. We pass a man with a full size wooden cross on the side of the road. He holds up a marker, offering prayers to those who write their “burdens” on the wood. A woman pushes her mother in a wheelchair. Another woman pushes an enclosed stroller. When we pass by and glance in, we see a Yorkie instead of the expected baby.
We make it to the site and there are people everywhere! Vendors sell snow cones and roasted corn and breakfast burritos. There are gift shops and a museum. People are sitting on benches and many are standing in line after walking all day to enter the chapel itself. I have heard that as many as 30,000 people make their way here during “holy week”. There is also parking at the summit and many who cannot make the walk have still found their way here. What is it about the act of a pilgrimage I wonder to myself? The religious experience is obvious, but there are so many other reasons. Perhaps a recommitment to spirituality. Certainly a cultural one and maybe just a chance to be outside in beautiful northern New Mexico and spend time in nature and with your own thoughts. Again, I am struck by the thought of community. Some have not seen each other since last year and stop to embrace and reconnect. How cool is that? I picture myself doing yoga on the grounds.