Christian Holmes- The Way

The Way was awesome. Plain and simple. This movie was exciting and moving from beginning to end. The element that I was really struck by, was the idea of the journey and how one changes as one journeys, especially in a religious light. Tom Avery's walk along the Camino de Santiago is an excellent visual rendition of the process of sanctification in the Christian life.

The title of the film itself is a reference to the name by which the early Christian church was known. On top of that, the Tom's walk characterizes the Christian idea of sanctification in a few ways. At the beginning of the trail, Tom was walk in many ways without reason. He wasn't entirely sure why he was on the trail. Sure, he wanted to spread his sons ashes, but short of this memorial for his son, his walk had no inner purpose. As he walked, he faced struggles and trials. He encountered other individuals on the trail and formed bonds with them. He fought with those people and struggled with them and grew further from those relationships. And as he continued down the path, he not only grew, but faded. As an individual and a person, he began to be obscured and lost in the light of his son and the people around him. Examples of this include his buying food for everyone, and his signing his sons name on the diploma of the trail. As he approached the shores and stared out into the vast ocean, he threw the last of his sons ashes in the water. These were not just ashes, these ashes marked his original purpose for walking the trail. They were external and not of him. However, as he walks back, he is driven and led by that which is within himself. There is almost a spirit at work in him that has given him a new life and identity. He has faded away as this new self grew into him.

As Tom walked the trail, spreading ashes, he enters a process of rediscovering who he is. By the end, he is an almost entirely new person. The old had faded away and what was left, was a new man who was driven by the spirit within him, rather than the grief outside of him. Gone were the days of mourning and harshness. He had been filled by the spirit of courage and hope. The Way is an amazing visual example of the Christian life and the process of sanctification.