Forward

This book is about walking, in particular about walking our life path. It is about walking one step at a time and the quality of our walk. It asks questions and offers suggestions on how to improve our walk. This book flows from reflections made throughout my life and during several long walks in Spain along the Camino de Santiago* and its brother the Via de la Plata.*

When you have the time and the inclination, read this book slowly, one page at a time, even one page a day, and consider how each page can fit into your life, how you can apply its spirit to where you are in the world today.

As I pass these words on to you, I thank God, the Universe, and untold numbers of people who have influenced me over the years and have helped me to better understand who I am and who we are. I especially thank Petra Wolf, my wife, who helped me formulate some of these questions and meditations as we walked our pilgrimages and afterwards as I wrote this book.

Mike Metras
November 2006

*The Camino de Santiago is a 1,200-year-old pilgrimage route across northern Spain to the grave of St. James in Santiago de Compostela. The Via de la Plata is another pilgrimage route, this one in western Spain from Seville also to Santiago. Pilgrimage routes come from all over Europe to join the Camino in Spain. In Germany and northern Switzerland these routes are called the Jakobsweg.