Suseia.
I have felt the wind blow, whispering Your name
I have seen Your tears fall when I watch the rain…Gazing at a bird in flight soaring through the air
Lying down beneath the stars, I feel Your presence there.~ Brian Doerksen, “Creation Calls”
camino series, 5.
This series is inspired by Jerome & Kellie’s 500-mile trek on the Camino Norte in May and June 2024. We offer these reflections and videos for your own enrichment on the pilgrimage of life!
Last week we looked at the deep source of motivation embedded in the ancient word ultreia. This week we look at its match—the traditional reply of suseia on pilgrimage. How might the heart of Suseia empower your world today?
Suseia is similar to ultreia but has a different root, which conveys an idea of going up: sus comes from susum, which means “from below to top.” More simply, it translates from the Latin as “higher” or “above.” Some scholars believe that this exchange on the Camino meant that the pilgrims hoped to meet again—further and higher along the journey. In fact, at the door of the Cathedral of Santiago. If that was not to be, the wish was to meet higher up still, that is in heaven. So you get a sense for the hopeful benediction anchored in these words.
I wish we had some kind of equivalent in our modern world today. Don’t we all want and need someone to see us and speak blessing over our journey? To reassure us that we will indeed arrive at our destination?
The word suseia also carried the connotation that this transcendent force that surrounds us and encourages us is embedded in Creation, that the “higher” aspects of our pilgrimage are incarnated in birdsong and wispy clouds and eucalyptus trees shaking in the breeze. That both rocky sea cliffs and mountain overlooks offer some of the internal fuel we need to keep pressing on. They sure do inspire me!
Kellie got this word tattooed on her leg, so we have matching images with different words for emphasis: Mine urges us to press past the obstacles that try to impede or discourage; hers beckons us to lift our eyes, to awaken our senses to the divine essence woven into every created thing. Both point to our most fundament cravings for hope, for belief, and for meaning on our everyday pilgrimage.
growing your soul
Where do you yearn for connection today… connection with someone you love, connection with a dream or desire, connection with natural beauty, or maybe more connection with God directly? Ask, seek, knock. It’s available to you.
serving our world
When it comes to Creation, the earth suffers under our unconscious abuse in many ways. What is one step you can take today to reduce the impact of garbage or fossil fuels or harsh chemicals or plastic… or a host of other contaminants?
takeaway
Creation. Care.
This week’s video
Our final photo/video collage from our 2024 trek of the Camino Norte, this one explores the theme of “Sensation” as we deepen our connection with body and senses in the journey of life.