In Canterbury Cathedral, one can see a portion of a stain glass window that displays “The Six Ages of Man.” Sorry for the sexist language. This depiction of an individual’s life emerged in the 12th century. By 1600 CE, Shakespeare borrows and elaborates upon these stages. In As You Like It, Shakespheare has Jaques’ soliloquy say those familiar words:

All the world’s a stage, 
    And all the men and women merely players: 
    They have their exits and their entrances; 
    And one man in his time plays many parts, 
    His acts being seven ages.

As I walked the Italian part of the Via Francigena, I watched for these ages of individual life. These photos are of ordinary folk. They are not consciously pilgrims. In an extended way though, are they not also pilgrims through life?

Enjoy the photos.

Infancy

Childhood

Adolescence

Young Adulthood

In Cortona, I talked with some UGA students.

Settled Adulthood

A UGA adjunct professor in Cortona sketching the valley below.

The BnB owner in Cortona.

Old Age

As we age, we do not know how many “stages” of life we will experience. Some lives end tragically young; some lives extend past 100. No matter the length of life, we do see changes. Our body changes. Our mind changes. Our spirit changes. As I mentioned in a prior post, one of the opportunities of being a pilgrim is to let one’s mind wander. In that wandering, one inevitably thinks about one’s own life. We revisit our actual past. We revisit the opportunities we had, but for some reason or another, we did not or could not take. In short, we see what we have created with the potential and opportunities given to us.

As I look back on those pilgrims that I got to know and those individuals pictured in this post, I have a paradoxical feeling. I feel close to fellow pilgrims; however, this “closeness” is not exclusionary. I also feel close to the strangers pictured here. Of course, this “closeness” is not an intimate closeness since I know nothing of their lives. Yet, there is a “shared humanity” as we all have passed through the various ages of life, each in our own way. As one of my former professors has written, In one scholars phrase, we all share a “common uniqueness.” Amazing!