Marking Sacred Time
Marking Sacred Time
by Joyce DeToni-Hill | St. George, UT
I’ve walked the Camino during transitional times to move into new places. In faith tradition, we call this “marking sacred time.”
In 2016, I walked the Francés facing life stage milestones, discerning who I was underneath the mantles of well-worn roles.
In 2018, the Portuguese route beckoned like an old friend offering to accompany me into wholeness after breast cancer. A Camino angel offered a quote, “You will walk through this because people like you shine with healing light.” I returned home knowing that I had walked into my resurrection.
The Camino invited the world to reconnect after the pandemic. I marked sacred time on the Camino Francés in Eastertide. The freshness of new beginnings filled my depleted soul.
When I retired from ordained ministry this July, the Camino welcomed me back to Portugal, marking sacred time with a 38-day journey—a day for each year of ministry. I slowed my itinerary to reflect a new pace of life.
As I entered churches, I recognized that they were draped in green, signifying a season called “Ordinary Time.” Ordinary Time was indeed going to be my new norm as I took my place in the pews back home. I wept occasionally when nearing the pulpits, altars, and baptismal fonts, facing the grief that I would no longer occupy those sacred spaces in Word and sacraments.
It was cold and rainy the day before I walked from Padrón to Santiago. My hip ached. I thought I’d be too tired to walk the entire distance, so I anticipated taxi-ing the first five miles. That decision weighed on me, as if trying to get my attention. I’d retired earlier than I had originally planned. The time was right, but for some reason felt “incomplete”—like I hadn’t received my “last stamp” in my career for reaching age 65. Cutting the day shorter by taxi ignited those emotional feelings of incompletion. I resolved to keep an open mind and heart until the morning.
I awakened refreshed with the best night’s sleep, filled with energy and joy. Walking each mile to the Plaza that day was more important than I anticipated. This physical journey blessed me with the emotional gift of feeling accomplishment for a larger journey of faith and calling.
The gift of marking sacred time continues to frame my days back home in retirement. Each day of ordinary time is marked with service, gratitude, and joy.
