The Long Walk: The Alto de Perdon

I have been thinking about forgiveness. This is not surprising since my daily prayers include the Lord's Prayer, as we call it, as well as an expanded version that restates the forgiveness point three times. This prayer also refers to forgiveness through Jesus as "forgiveness that reforms the world". Moments later the prayer of St. Francis is repeated and this includes, "it is in pardoning that we are pardoned".

The way of Jesus is the way of forgiveness. Recall his utterance on the cross, "Father forgive them they don't know what they are doing", and I'm inclined to think we rarely do. And don't forget that "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sins against us", is the only aspect the Lord's Prayer that Jesus clarified for us, reinforcing the nexus between divine and human forgiveness (see Matthew 6:14,15).

Walking the Camino, as one moves west from Pamplona through breathtaking landscape, one climbs the famed Alto de Perdon (the Hill of Forgiveness). It is a significant ascent and at the summit one encounters metal sculptures, I believe installed in the 1990s, that symbolize the historical development of the Camino (see photos below).

The sculptures are interesting. But it is the name, "The Hill of Forgiveness" that has stayed with me. And the lore of the Hill too. The intent is for pilgrims to forgive others and themselves with each uphill step. I doubt many take this literally, however with a rise in elevation of 500 meters one certainly has time to consider one's ways regarding forgiveness and do so in light of the Way of Jesus. The obvious metaphor is that as forgiveness is granted, as each weight is released, the ascent becomes easier. Reaching the peak, the pilgrim can enjoy the relative weightlessness of this newfound freedom and the descent will be easy. In reality the descent was anything but easy but the power of the metaphor remains.

Sometimes we speak of forgiveness in a somewhat mechanistic ways, as though it was a matter of simple transaction. I cause injury, the injured brings this to my attention, I utter an apology taking ownership, forgiveness is offered and all is well once again. This is good, better than not. I suspect there are much deeper waters from which to drink if we wish to walk the way of Jesus.

This is captured, at least for me, in the speeches of Father Zossima in Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov.

Zossima speaks of hell as the suffering of being unable to love. He teaches that no one can judge a criminal unless he realizes he is just such a criminal as the one before him and perhaps more than anyone responsible for the transgression. He tells of his brother who asked forgiveness of even the birds and notes that while this seems senseless, the birds and children will certainly feel happier in the presence of such a person. Zosimma counsels, "make yourself responsible for all men's sins" and in doing so find salvation.

Clearly, I cannot do Dostoyevsky and his brilliant character Father Zosimma justice. However, in my walking, praying and reflecting on the Alto de Perdon, this eccentric priest came to mind. Reading Zossima brought me to tears. It seems to me the Way of Jesus, the life of love and constant forgiveness is wonderfully captured in the portrayal of this character.

Today we walked 25 kilometers and will do the same tomorrow. I suspect Zosimma will come along and, like the Hill of Forgiveness and my prayers, continue to point me to the extraordinary and beautiful way of Jesus.