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Down the Road I Walk
(this article first appeared in an issue of the Catholic New Times)

After three months of intense training, on a cold April morning shortly after dawn, Michael dips his foot into the frigid waters of Lake Ontario. This is a celebratory moment for Michael. It is an important turning point that will unfold into a pilgrimage of transformation.

Michael begins walking from the east end beaches in Toronto. With a stubborn determination and a curious burning heart, he heads east along Highway 2, the King's Highway, hugging the shoreline of the Great Lake. As the hours melt away on that first day, flakes of snow begin to form and float harmlessly through the air. Within minutes, the weather quickly burgeons into a full-blown snow storm. Cars whiz past and spray waves of snow and slush over him. Michael realizes this is the first test of his resolve. He could still back out at this point and save a lot of pain and money and time and ridicule. Not a chance! In spite of numbing fingers and toes, there is something inexplicable within Michael that urges him onward, and so he walks on and on, day after day.

Michael Oesch, a 37 year old musician and writer from Toronto, eventually completes a miraculous walking pilgrimage to the east coast and back eight months later. It has almost been a year since Michael returned from a marvellous voyage of 5400 km, through small towns few of us have ever visited. Armed with the barest essentials including a tent, sleeping bag and a walking stick, and some luxuries including an ocarina (a baby guitar), a cell phone and a walkman, Michael would walk approximately 30 to 40 km given the weather and his level of endurance for the day. Michael also maintained an online journal during his travels and is currently developing these thoughts into a book that he hopes to eventually publish.

In one such account, Michael writes how difficult it is for him to convey "the magnitude to which I am inhaling the grandeur of this walk. I am detoxifying out here. I am beginning to move with the sway of the trees, to listen and enjoy and sing along with the songs of the forest. To move in motion with the spirit of the land."

For lunch and dinner, Michael would visit greasy spoon diners and take in a regular diet of bacon and eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches, chocolate bars and pasta specials. Michael was burning over 5000 calories a day so he figured he could afford to pig out. As he ate, he would converse with the locals and discover more about their lives, their traditions, their joys and concerns. Michael's message to those whom he met was clear and always the same: follow your dreams, literally.

Prior to leaving, Michael had a recurring dream for months where he walked day after day until he made it all the way to the 'big salty lake where the land ends'. He had this dream night after night until he could no longer ignore it and decided to follow his dream and see where it would lead.
The decision to do this was based not upon altruistic intentions to raise money for charities or to walk for any particular cause, but upon a simple thirst for knowledge of the self. Michael asserts he embarked with no expectations but the road ahead and to search the 'great unknown'. He wanted to develop more awareness of himself and others, to feel what it is like to be here, to accept and embrace the world as it truly is, instead of how it is presented on the evening news.
It was not until he reached rural Quebec, that he grew acutely aware of the fact he was on a pilgrimage. On the outskirts of Donnacona, Quebec, he was informed that the road he was walking upon was the Chemin du Roy, the Royal Road, a old pilgrimage route spanning 250 km from St. Joseph's Oratory (L'Oratoire) in Montreal to the small rural town of Ste-Anne-de-Beaupre and its Basilica at the center of town. Hundreds of Catholics every summer set out upon this route, stopping in at each church and holy site along the way. Built in the early 1700's, the Chemin du Roy is the oldest road in Canada and is, not surprisingly, steeped in tradition and folklore. For instance, the Vieux Presbytere de Deschambault is an old rectory built in 1815. Further down the road, and built around the same time, is L'Eglise Saint Augustin, a beautiful church with its vaulted ceiling, and exquisite sculpture and artwork.

In addition to the churches Michael visited, he also appreciated the roadside Madonna shrines, symbols of great faith and hope he says for many Catholics in Quebec. He feels the shrines were one of a number of visual reminders of the deep spiritual roots that people in this part of the country still hold. The Madonnas, as Michael saw it, offered good journey to travelers keeping intersections safe for them and blessing them as they passed through.

In the midst of this rich religious heritage, Michael rediscovered Catholicism and a faith he had abadoned in his teens. He recognized that Catholicism, despite concerns he continues to have with it, was still truly a road to God. Michael had left Toronto not knowing what he would find down the road, only to rediscover something he had discarded a long time ago: his faith. He recognized the necessity of just accepting his place in life and seriously putting into practice the rituals that were meaningful for him. He now understands that faith is an acceptance that you will be lovingly guided. Michael feels that it was this rediscovery that led him through Quebec. His ability to identify with Catholicism provided great comfort and solace for him while on the road as he adapted to a new culture, where sometimes the only recognizable thing for Michael would be the cross.

Upon arriving at the Basilica in Ste-Anne-de-Beaupre, he observed how the sky blue ceiling of the massive church made it feel like it opened up to heaven. Natural lighting is provided from over 200 stained-glass windows. The Basilica itself is the final destination site of the annual pilgrimage on Ste. Anne's Day (July 26). It is estimated that close to 1.5 million pilgrims visit this holy site annually. Michael was so inspired by what he observed that he sat through a mass in French and later received communion for the first time in several years. After meeting with Father Gerrard Therrion, he was officially registered with the Basilica as a pilgrim of the Chemin du Roy, the Royal Road. With great peace in his heart, Michael said goodbye and continued on.

"I believe in every road to God...The Natives of the Americas go on vision quests to ask ancestral or animal spirits for guidance. Muslims go to Mecca. Others walk the road to Santiago. I walk the Grand Chemin de Canada. If I am meant to find it, I will. I don't even know what it is and I don't care. All I know is that I am supposed to go looking for it down this road I walk."

For more accounts of Michael's fantastic adventure, check out moesch.coffeehouse.ca.


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