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Beyond Even the Stars: A Compostela Pilgrim in France by Kevin A. Codd

Wipf & Stock, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers 978-1-5326-4191-6 / paperback / $26

www.wipfandstock.com

New Title from Kevin A. Codd Beyond Even the Stars: A Compostela Pilgrim in France

Kevin A. Codd’s previous book, To the Field of Stars, has been hailed

as a contemporary classic of pilgrim literature and introduced a fresh

voice to the world of both travel and spiritual writing. In Beyond Even

the Stars, the reader is invited to join this peripatetic American priest

as he takes up the Way to Compostela, this time in Leuven, Belgium,

and follows it south through much of France. His vivid descriptions

of the natural world and the people he meets along the way are

delightful, just as his profound reflections on life and death, love and

faith, God and grace, are inspiring.

Kevin A. Codd is a Roman Catholic priest presently serving as pastor of

Sacred Heart Church in Spokane, Washington. From 2001 to 2007 he

served as rector-president of The American College in Leuven, Belgium.

While there, he was granted a doctorate by the Faculty of Theology of the

KU Leuven. He is the author of To the Field of Stars: A Pilgrim’s Journey to

Santiago de Compostela.

Q. Beyond Even the Stars is your second book; is it a sequel to your first book, To the Field of Stars?

A. Yes, Beyond Even the Stars picks up the story of my pilgrim ways some five years after I first walked the Spanish portion of the Camino de Santiago, a story that was told in my first book, To the Field of Stars. While walking in Spain, I met several pilgrims who had walked from home in the Netherlands, Germany, and France. I wanted to do the same, so I started a second pilgrim walk from my hometown at the time, Leuven, Belgium, heading south across southern Belgium and most of France. This new book tells the story of that adventure.

Q. Is Beyond Even the Stars very much like To the Field of Stars?

A. In some ways yes, and in other ways not so much. I write with much the same style as I did in the first book; it is first person, present tense all the way, which I think adds realism and a sense of the reader being present with me as the story unfolds. But on the other hand, because I was so much more alone along the pilgrim Way in France with very few other pilgrims to share my life with, this new account is, I think, a more reflective, interior, and spiritual experience for the reader, as it was for me as I walked it.

Q. What is the most significant personal experience you share in Beyond Even the Stars?

A. There were so many! It is difficult to choose just one! For me personally, I think the deepest and most important moment came fairly late in the story when I had already walked several hundred miles. I was just walking along on a small roadway through some beautiful French countryside, when completely unexpected, I suddenly "walked into God" as I describe it in the book. Though a very brief moment, it was stunning and a sheer grace and blessing I had not expected.

Q. So how far did you actually walk?

A. In Belgium and France, about 1000 miles, give or take. That is not counting the 500 miles I had walked previously in Spain.

Interview with Kevin A. Codd

Q. Was it easy to write about your pilgrimage experiences?

A. At first it was easy. I had my journals from the road to rely on and began writing based on those memories. The difficult part was then editing all that material (more than 450 pages!) down to a format that would be publishable; editing out so much was really difficult. I went through many versions before I felt I had it right, but I still rather mourn the experiences and the people along the way who did not make the final cut!

It was also difficult at times to find just the right words to express what were sometimes pretty ineffable experiences and interior movements of the spirit. I worked hard to get those moments right so that they would be something others could also experience in reading my words.

Wondering at times if I was sharing too much that was too personal also was worrisome, but then I would remember an axiom an old friend once share with me about preaching, "that which is most personal is also most universal," and that would give me the courage to go on.

Q. How much a role does your Christian faith and the fact that you are a Catholic priest play in the book?

A. A lot, I have to admit. Being a Christian and a Catholic priest is a big part of who I am and my faith is one of the primary lenses through which I view my life and my place in the world. So, of course, how I experience the pilgrimage and how I write about it is deeply influenced by that.

With that being so, I also think that the "faith" part of the narrative nevertheless will be engaging and interesting even for those who do not share my faith. That seemed to certainly be the case for readers of my first book, many of whom were not Catholic or even Christian, but who wrote me to tell me how much they enjoyed my story because it was, when all was said and done, a very human story. I trust it will be the same for this new book.

Q. Now that Beyond Even the Stars is complete, are you planning any new books?

A. I don't have anything in mind just yet. I need a while to get beyond this one a bit. I've thought about going in a different direction sometime down the line and writing something like a pastor's view of the stories of Jesus that I preach about week after week. Or maybe I'll finally make my doctoral dissertation about some great 19th century missionaries who worked in the Pacific Northwest into a readable book! Stay tuned!

Q. If there is one thing in your book that sums it up, what would it be?

A. "Tout est grâce." Everything is grace.

Exceprt from the Preface:

One night not long ago, I awoke to a dream. It was one of those dreams that is clear and clean of mental

clutter and easily remembered. Most of all, it seemed very real and felt very true.

So this was my dream.

I am walking. I am happy beyond words. I am on a gently winding road, a road that is rising. The sun is

brightly shining, but it is not hot, and a breeze is cooling my face. My shirt is open to both wind and the

shine of the sun. I have nothing on my back and my feet are almost prancing, or maybe, dancing as I

climb. The increasing elevation does not slow me; it lifts me. My smile is wide, my eyes are alive, and my

heart is beating in time to my footsteps. I come over a final rise, look up from the road, and there is sea as

far as I can see. And sky. The blue of one melding with the blue of the other along a hazy thin line that is

the horizon. This is the very end of the earth and the beginning of the heavens, and I am walking into it. I

am not afraid, for the road and the sea and the sky and all that is beyond is so beautiful. I lift my arms and

soundlessly shout across the universe: Ahhh! And with that cry, as one does in dreams, I fly. Or better, I

am lifted up and carried beyond the horizon, beyond the End of the Earth, beyond even the stars above,

and . . . into . . . into . . . into . . . ? Well, I don’t know—into God perhaps.

An Excerpt from Beyond Even the Stars

“Beyond Even the Stars is a heartfelt and deeply inspiring book, one that will keep you up way past your bedtime. From it you will learn what the words ‘spirituality’ and ‘faith’ really mean, and you’ll be thrilled by Kevin Codd’s sharing of his adventures with you. When you finish reading it, you’ll probably want to read it again. Immediately.”

—Mitch Finley, author of The Seeker’s Guide to Being Catholic and The Gospel Truth

“Kevin Codd has provided yet another moving testimony to a pilgrimage that has captured the imagination of fellow travelers on the road to Compostela. His latest book adds texture and tenderness to his earlier work, recounts personal setbacks and triumphs, and will inspire all who look to deepen the meaning and purpose of their lives. This is a must read for all who aspire to set out on the way, those who have already made the journey and those who are merely curious to know why so many have made this pilgrim’s trek down the ages.”

—Robert Mickens, La Croix International, English Editor

Praise for Beyond Even the Stars: A Compostela Pilgrim in France