Pilgrimage: A Journey of Transformation

Lectio with the River Arga

From Zubiri to Pamplona, the main feature of the walk is the River Arga. We follow the river almost all the way into Pamplona.  Because I was walking in May, the river was filled with water and the shore was beautiful and green.

From last month’s post, you know that when I hike, I practice a form of Lectio Divina – allowing me to meditate on the natural elements and the physical experience of the hike.  On this hike, I focused on the River Arga.  What I noticed about the river is that it moves at its own pace.  I also noticed how the water from the river greens the land where it touches the shore.  It is as if the Earth accepts the life force of the water.

Like the river, God moves at God’s own pace.  Sometimes my experience of God is like the rushing river.  I am filled with God’s love and grace – as in Isaiah 58:11:

Then the LORD will guide you always
      and give you plenty even on the parched land.
 He will renew your strength,
      and you shall be like a watered garden,
      like a spring whose water never fails.

Other times – more often than I would like -, I experience God like a spent stream in late August.  As expressed in Psalm 42:1-3, there are times when it feels as if God has left me behind:

As a deer longs for flowing streams,
                so my soul thirsts for God.
 My soul thirsts for God,
                for the living God.
 When shall I come and behold
               the face of God?
 My tears have been my food
              day and night,
 while people say to me continually,
            “Where is your God?”

It is easy to believe in God when everything is going well.  It is so much harder when things are difficult, and you cannot find God’s presence in your life.  In such cases, it is easy to believe that God does not exist or that God is not a good God. 

The theology of the Psalms is based on relationship – an expression of the faithful love of God that we experience as God’s mercy.³

How do we experience God’s love when the river runs dry?  We focus on our memories of the times when we experienced God in our lives.⁴

These things I remember,
                 as I pour out my soul;
 how I went with the throng,
               and led them in procession to the
                     house of God,
 with glad shouts and songs of
              thanksgiving . . . . Psalm 42:4.

I know that God has done great things for me.⁶ I know that, like the river, my relationship with God ebbs and flows.  Sometimes it’s like Isaiah 58:11:  I am filled with the love and grace of God.  Other times, I do not feel God’s presence and am left asking if God exists.  At those times, I stay in relationship with God and remind myself of the knowledge that God is near and I will again be filled by God’s love and grace. 

            Why are you cast down, O my soul,
                and why are you disquieted within me?
            Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
                my help and my God.  Psalm 42:5. 

Towards the end of the walk, I left the River Arga at a place where its banks were wide. The river was calm and great for swimming.  Families and friends were celebrating the beautiful day with picnics and by having fun in the water.  I felt joy – for the abundance of water, the lovely afternoon, and the fact that people were enjoying each other’s company.  As I turned to Pamplona, I shifted my focus to the Alto de Perdón.  But that is next month’s post! 

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            Travel Note:  Pamplona is a lovely city.  If you are thinking of taking a day off, Pamplona is a wonderful place to stop.  The city dates from Roman times and a visit to the Catedral includes a museum that walks the visitor through the city’s history.  The castle is also worth a visit.

1. New American Bible (NAB). ↩︎
2. New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). ↩︎
3. Konrad Schafer, OSB, “Psalms,” in The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century (3rd ed., ed. John J. Collins, Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid OP, and Donald Senior CP; New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2022) 668. “God’s hesed saves the people, reveals the benevolent love that forgives the spouse’s infidelities, and rewards Israel with salvation.” ↩︎
4. See Carroll Stuhlmueller, The Spirituality of the Psalms (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2002) 116-117. ↩︎
5. NRSV. ↩︎
6. See Luke 1:49 (NRSV). ↩︎
7. NRSV. ↩︎