Seasons Online

From Ray McGinnis

The movie “The Way” takes place along a trail called El Camino de Santiago. It is a pilgrimage that begins in France and ends five hundred miles later in Spain, where the remains of the apostle St. James are said to be buried. Tom learns that his son Daniel began making the journey but died before he could reach the first check point. Faced with Daniel’s hiking gear and blank passport (there are many towns on the route and pilgrims receive colourful stamps on their passport at each one), Tom decides to honour his son’s memory by finishing the pilgrimage himself. Though he wants to have solitude at this time of sorrow, he soon meets up with fellow travellers from around the world, each with their own reasons for making the pilgrimage. Joost, from the Netherlands, is making the journey to lose weight. A Canadian, Sarah, wants to quit smoking. An American priest is hoping to beat cancer. Tom also meets a writer from Ireland whose novel is due soon, though he can’t come up with the first page. Each pilgrim is hoping to find an experience of transformation when the journey ends. As Tom makes his way, he scatters bits of Daniel’s ashes as he goes. On the road Tom begins to understand why Daniel was making the trip, and in so doing Tom finds parts of himself he had thought were lost.

Type: Adventure
Director: Emilio Estevez
Film company: Producers Distribution Agency
Release date: October 7, 2011
Starring: Emilio Estevez, Martin Sheen, Deborah Kara Unger, James Nesbitt
Rating: PG

Focus: Dr. Tom Avery is a small town optometrist who seems content with his life. He has his practice. He has his golf game. And, occasionally, he has contact with his son, Daniel (played by director Emilio Estevez, in flashbacks). It’s been some time since the two were in the same room. Daniel took off for France, over the objections of his father, who chided him about his life choices. “You don’t choose a life,” Daniel informs him. “You live one.” One day Tom receives the phone call and learns that Daniel has died. Tom makes the trip to France to retrieve his body. Little does he know that he is about to embark on the most important trip of his life.

Explore…Mark 9:2–9

“Thin places” have been described in Celtic spirituality as the place where the line between real and mystical becomes blurred, and earth and heaven seem to meet.

In what ways was the Transfiguration a “thin place” experience for Jesus? For the disciples?

In what ways did his pilgrimage become a “thin place” experience for Tom?

What difference do the companions that Tom meets on his journey make to his sense of what is important in this life?

In what ways might those who companion us on the journey help open us to transformation?

Prayer links…  
Transforming God, your voice breaks through the clouds and we hear you reveal your presence among us. Help us to dwell with you without attachment and to trust in the unfolding journey before us. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Read more…

Review in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, October 13, 2011

Review in the Washington Post, October 7, 2011

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Spirit Sightings

February 19, 2012: Thin Places

From Ray McGinnis