Join the Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage of Pain

This month marks 17 years since a botched surgery left me in chronic back pain.

For more than half my life, I've faced each day in severe pain. I can barely recall what life was like without this constant companion.

The past 17 years have been extremely challenging, but also immeasurably fruitful. I know that I would not be the man I am today without my pain. Though a part of me will always wish this pain never entered my life, I've learned to accept it as an integral part of who I am.

Chronic pain is not merely a trial to be endured but a pilgrimage to be embraced. 

I’ve named this journey a Pilgrimage of Pain because a pilgrimage is not just about the destination, but the transformative journey along the way.

Anyone who has walked the Camino de Santiago will tell you that, as rewarding as it is to reach the Basilica of Santiago de Compostela at the end, the most impactful aspect of the journey was the struggle to get there: navigating challenging terrains, enduring sleepless nights, battling bed bugs, soothing sore muscles, and sharing the path with smelly companions.

To be a pilgrim is to welcome pain and forsake worldly comforts to pursue interior transformation. 

Anyone living in chronic pain has the opportunity to be such a pilgrim through life.

Each of us has a choice: do we grit our teeth, resent the pain, and let bitterness take root in our suffering? Or do we embrace the pain and chase after spiritual and personal growth along the way?

I choose to walk the Pilgrimage of Pain. Will you join me?