May 21st-June 20th 2015..the dates are set. “Camino Ignaciano,” that is, the Ignatian “road” or the Ignatian “way.” My route begins at the birthplace of Ignatius Loyola in Spain’s Basque country, in a village near the small town of Azpeitia. From there, the route proceeds for hundreds of kilometres, through picturesque mountains, deserts, and verdant plains, before ending in the town of Manresa (near Barcelona); Ignatius rested in this town for some months after his journey through Spain, and Manresa was a place of profound spiritual enlightenment for him. Here he composed the essence of his spiritual masterpiece, the Spiritual Exercises.
I was determined to have my dates for my month long pilgrimage in Spain confirmed by Dec 31st 2014. Mission accomplished. St. Ignatius refers to decision making as “discernment of the spirits”. During discernment, we notice the interior movements of our hearts. These thoughts can include but not limited to: desires, attractions and resistance. During this process, we determine where these feelings are coming from. More importantly, where are these feelings leading us. Through this practice of discernment, we hope to be able to make good decisions.

I made a good decision on December 31st. What was a vision of mine is now a reality. I’m confident that I was guided on this decision with the support of the spirit and St. Ignatius. Deciding to move my dates up by 4 months has me thinking Ignatius is excited and ready to get this journey going and exposing me to my yet to be found internal treasures.

It was a black and white day the last day of December 2014. My thoughts and feelings on this decision were in black and white. White was a symbol of goodness, innocence and perfection. Black, yes black, that evil that St. Ignatius warns us of. The black symbolizing death, mystery and the unknown.  Well guess what black….I won. I imagine this black actually looks like this…