[versione italiana]

My current six month stint in Kenya has been offering a great opportunity to reflect back at my life so far — my almost nineteen years as a Jesuit, nine as a priest, and close to my 40th birthday. I should imagine that’s what this stage of formation as a Jesuit is there for, after all.

These words — “We are all backpackers” — ring true as ever, just as when the late Fr Charles Caruana SJ, Rector of St Aloysius’ College, said them during the homily at the opening of the school year in 2000. A few days later, I joined the Jesuit novitiate. These words came to life in a particular way in my pilgrimage “experiment” (in my case, a 315km trek — in poverty — from Rome to Loreto), which remains a foundational experience. I’ve had the chance to experience pilgrimage (in different ways) since then, and this has thought me five key lessons for life:

• Take life one day at a time, one step at a time.
• Sometimes, you just need to keep walking.
• Travel light. Let go.
• Be a good companion
• There’s no such thing as a wrong turn.

Let me unpack that.

Take life one day at a time, one step at a time. Pilgrimage, after all, is the journey, not merely a destination … and so is life. Don’t expect to be today, where/ what/ who you are called to be tomorrow. Live the moment, enjoy the journey.

Sometimes, you just need to keep walking. As a pilgrim, there are highs and lows, especially if you’re going solo. There are moments when you seriously think about giving up, and take the first train home. When all the joints ache, when fatigue kicks in. Days when everything seems to go wrong. Learn to take in the bad days with the good — and don’t expect to understand everything. Let things unfold slowly.

Travel light. Let go. In scouting, I’ve learnt that the size of the backpack is inversely proportional to that of the scout: the cub scouts’ parents would pack even the kitchen sink if they could, the scout will usually bring a heavy backpack to camp, but the rover — knowing that they need to carry everything as they walk — packs only the bare essentials. A few pilgrimages later, I’ve learnt not to pack extras … nothing goes in “just in case”. Travel light — even through life! — learn to enjoy simplicity, let go of baggage.

Be a good companion. The joy of travelling solo as a pilgrim is that of encountering others along the journey. Simple friendships that provide support along the journey. Even more true in daily life: we all need friendship. Not the Facebook-level friends running in the hundreds, but those few and far between, a deep friendship built on trust, openness, without fear. And don’t wait for others to start, start yourself.

There’s no such thing as a wrong turn. We make mistakes, take wrong turns in life. But somehow, to those who see, every wrong turn becomes a new opportunity, a new encounter a new experience. The road may be longer, and more tortuous, but ultimately makes us who we are.

As a priest, some might ask — “And where do you see God in all this?” Allow me to reply simply: “Where not?”