Last week we watched “The Way” on our church staff retreat. It’s a story of a grieving father who walks
El camino de Santiago. Tom (Martin
Sheen) doesn’t intend to be a pilgrim, but somehow he finds himself walking. It’s an intimate look at Tom’s life and pain.
It's a beautiful movie.
What’s most stirring is how real the film is—how normal it
feels. We overuse the words ‘authentic’
and ‘real’ but I can’t think of another way to describe it. It’s stripped bare of bells and
whistles and there's no Hollywood
glam. Rather, I felt like I knew Tom. His grief is raw and prolonged, but not
contrived. There’s not an overt tug at
your heartstrings. It’s simply real life
happening in front of you.
The film could seem slow for that reason, but not if you approach it as if
you’re watching someone walk through their pain. Viewed through this lens the film can help us. Who among us hasn’t watched
someone walk through pain? We scramble
for words. We want someone to tell us
what to do. There has to be
something to do.
But really the only things we should do are pray and walk with—not walk for or even walk to—but
with. When we walk with we share the load. We share the burden. We share anger, laughter and tears.
The journey of grief can seem endless for the weary traveller, but hope surfaces when others join the pilgrimage.
Note: The film is PG-13. Check out a review on Christianity
Today.
