CHAPLAIN
ON THE ROAD
WESTERN SOCIETY IS A SOCIETY ON THE GO , AND CELEBRATES THE JOURNEY
REV DOUG CAMPBELL SCHOOL CHAPLAIN
My office window looks out onto the end of Morrison Street . Apart from the busy start and end of the day when the roundabout is packed with parents turning vehicles , the area is generally quiet , aside from a few boys heading to their pipes and drums lesson .
However , on occasions the decibel levels increase and there is a murmur of excitement as boys wait for the coaches that will take them off campus to experience some activity that will stretch their bodies or minds . The boys are naturally excited , as these are events that they have carefully chosen for themselves and which will challenge them against others in chess , debating , da Vinci Decathlon or in track and field . They are on the road of adventure .
We all , regardless of age , long for some kind of adventure . We are forever promised the possibilities of unending adventure by our favourite streaming services and the advertising companies that entice us with the latest models and products . No one sells a car with it parked in a tailback at the West Gate Bridge . Prompted by the advertisers we long for new countries , new towns , new experiences and new relationships . These will be ours , we are assured , if we buy the latest SUV or fly with their particular airline to our next bucket list destination . Being on the road is merely a means of arriving at our desired haven .
However , we know deep down this experience will not entirely satisfy despite the beautiful memories placed on Instagram . Yet we continue to long to be on the road somewhere so we might have a sense of
purpose and meaning for a time , and that we might capture a sense of wholeness and achievement . Staying still does not satisfy .
We love to be on the move . Movement , activity , journey – Western society is a society on the go and celebrates the journey . This desire resides deep in the soul of Western humanity . In part we see this in the idea of pilgrimage from the Middle Ages . The ancients , moved by faith and repentance , stepped out into the unknown and unfamiliar towards the final goal and their heart ’ s desire .
The problem now is that we have radically altered the idea of our life journey or pilgrimage , which is now detached from an end . We are often on a journey without a destination . The Talking Heads ’ Road to nowhere ! feels like the soundtrack of this age .
A friend recently completed the Camino de Santiago ( the Way of St James ) which is a pilgrimage leading to the shrine of St James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in north-western Spain . My friend is not a Roman Catholic or a person of faith ; he simply desired to complete the famous pilgrimage and travel on the road in the footsteps of ancient pilgrims alongside both the modern devout and other tourists . He explained that he wanted to ‘ do something historical and meaningful ’.
His was a journey not for spiritual growth nor was it an act of penance . This was simply a holiday through the picturesque villages of northern Spain while still challenging himself physically . At the end his pilgrim passport contained all the necessary stamps issued by the officials in each town and his compostela officially certified that he had completed ‘ the Way ’.
For my friend , the cathedral with worship and thanksgiving was merely an impressive chequered flag marking the end of his journey . The very goal of the pilgrimage was for him merely a destination with no deeper spiritual significance . For him there was no worship and little thanksgiving . He admitted he thought almost immediately about his next adventure .
In our society today we are grateful for the opportunity , the freedom and ability to move , travel and even emigrate . Unlike our ancestors , we are able to travel the world , work almost anywhere and can call many places home . We love the freedom that mobility seems to confer , and yet we can move without noticing that we lack a sense of an ultimate destination or a focus on anyone to whom we grant ultimate allegiance .
8 Great Scot Issue 170 – December 2023