“Religion is belief in someone else’s experience, spirituality is having your own experience.”

Deepak Chopra

If I haven’t mentioned it already (wink), I highly recommend the movie The Way. It came to me at the right time and led me to this trip in a life-long series of synchronistic events (see Invisible Thread post). When you choose to watch it, it will be the right time for you too.

In it, Martin Sheen stars as Tom, an optometrist from Los Angeles who finds himself walking the Camino for very personal reasons. I watched a YouTube video in which Sheen was interviewed on The Way, fatherhood, and spirituality. It is approximately 20 minutes long, and I recommend it if you can find some time: https://youtu.be/3gcL-pVOlZA Sheen said some things that inspired me to consider my own viewpoints. Here are some of his words followed by my thoughts:

“If the Vatican ran out of dough tomorrow, I would still be Catholic.”

Martin Sheen

I agree with Sheen, and it took me a lot of years to figure out what that meant. For many reasons, I lost faith in the Catholic Church as a paternal institution; there are many things I would change if I could. But I never lost my Faith. I have come to understand that Catholicism and Spirituality can be separated. You can have one without the other. It is the spiritual component of Catholicism that makes sense to me, and I don’t believe that translates into frequenting a building; although I know many people who do find their spirituality there. A beautiful church or cathedral can move someone regardless of their expressed religion. Spirituality is non-denominational, so it can be practiced anywhere by anyone. Spirituality is inclusive. It unites in a shared understanding of the joy and sadness of Life.

I think I really understood what the bigger picture of Catholicism meant to me at Matthew’s Confirmation. After the ceremony we went to O’Hara’s, an Irish Pub. We drank beer, ate pub food, talked and laughed. It was a true family experience. I could envision all my family members through the ages who did that before us, large families of my Irish ancestors walking down the street from their church to the local pub to celebrate. Maybe they didn’t do this, but our shared religion and familial roots bond us together. Catholicism, like any religion, is a foundation. Relgions have traditions and rituals. Spirituality is the personal quality that each beliver brings to them. The decision to be a Catholic links us to one another through time and space. It leaves a long legacy of which I’m proud to be a part. As I walk the Camimo, I will think of the family who walked before me. As Sheen says, “religiosity divides us, spirituality connects us” -whether we are on the Way, in a church, or a in pub.

“I sincerely believe that everything- everything- is grace, and you have to stick around long enough to see it through.”

Martin Sheen

Oh boy, does this resonate. As most of you know, I had a pretty tough fall/winter. The combination of Matthew leaving, the house renovation, and the long winter left me in a pretty dark place. It is not so much fun (for anyone) to be in the thick of it, but John promised me it would end. And it did. I just had to stick with it long enough to see it through and find the grace within it. Or even more profoundly to understand that the experience itself WAS the grace, even though it didn’t feel like it at the time. It served me in ways that don’t make sense but have led me to a better place and to observations that I would have otherwise not seen. Life doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it’s a lot easier when you’re with others…

“You can make the journey alone, but you can’t make it by yourself.”

Martin Sheen

My experience earlier this year helped me understand this much better. I was very much alone in how I was feeling on the inside. This one really tested me, but I was surrounded by love and support on the outside. From help with laundry and Christmas shopping to a hot cup of tea with a neighbor and rejuvenation in Naples, I could not have healed and gained the strength to take this trip without all of you. Thank you. And lastly…

“Oh my, aren’t we all alike.”

Martin Sheen

Yes, Yes we are.