Verily, I wasn't made for a world this stupid: "Visiting Disney World is the modern version of a medieval pilgrimage."

An occasional reminder is justified, because John Kennedy Toole's novel A Confederacy of Dunces is a very funny book. This brief extract begins with Ignatius's long-suffering mother, as she dares enter his room in the New Orleans house where they live.

“It smells terrible in here.'

Well, what do you expect? The human body, when confined, produces certain odors which we tend to forget in this age of deodorants and other perversions. Actually, I find the atmosphere of this room rather comforting. Schiller needed the scent of apples rotting in his desk in order to write. I, too, have my needs. You may remember that Mark Twain preferred to lie supinely in bed while composing those rather dated and boring efforts which contemporary scholars try to prove meaningful. Veneration of Mark Twain is one of the roots of our current intellectual stalemate.”

I prefer the punch line like this:

Veneration of Walt Disney is one of the roots of our current intellectual stalemate.

Just what we needed.

In a world grown increasingly complex, when reality so desperately demands prompt and scrupulous attention, what we do instead is create another religion, so that local office holders can look longingly to unreality as a basis for revitalization.

Visiting Disney World is the Modern Version of Making a Medieval Pilgrimage According to anthropologists, religious studies experts, and art historians, by Sarah Laskow (Atlas Obscura)

At Walt Disney World, the weeks around Christmas are one of the most crowded times of the year: from all over the country and all over the world, families flock to Orlando to be in this special space for just a few days. Most Disney patrons would probably call their trip a vacation, but to anthropologists, religious studies experts, and art historians, a visit to Disney World looks a lot like another, older form of travel—a pilgrimage.

“Appetites for direct contact with Disney’s creations have transformed the trek to Disney World into a genuine form of pilgrimage,” writes historian Cheryl Krause Knight, author of Power and Paradise in Walt Disney’s World. In the modern world, a trip to Disney has become a rite of passage that transforms those who make the trek, and the design of the park heightens that experience: Disney World resembles a medieval pilgrimage center, designed to connect pilgrims with the supernatural, represented by Mickey Mouse and company.

Mickey is like a supernatural being.

On the Way of St. James, and a film depicting it.

The Way of St. James (Camino de Santiago) is a major Christian pilgrimage route in Europe.

The Way of St. James was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during the Middle Ages, together with Rome and Jerusalem, and a pilgrimage route on which a plenary indulgence could be earned; other major pilgrimage routes include the Via Francigena to Rome and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Legend holds that St. James's remains were carried by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain where he was buried on what is now the city of Santiago de Compostela. (The name Santiago is the local Galician evolution of Vulgar Latin Sanctu Iacobu, "Saint James".)

The Way can take one of dozens of pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela. Traditionally, as with most pilgrimages, the Way of Saint James began at one's home and ended at the pilgrimage site. However a few of the routes are considered main ones. During the Middle Ages, the route was highly traveled. However, the Black Death, the Protestant Reformation and political unrest in 16th century Europe led to its decline. By the 1980s, only a few pilgrims per year arrived in Santiago. Later, the route attracted a growing number of modern-day pilgrims from around the globe. The route was declared the first European Cultural Route by the Council of Europe in October 1987; it was also named one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.

My first experience of the Fiesta de San Fermin came in 1994. Pamplona is astride the "main" pilgrimage route, which historically began in Paris and crossed the Pyrenees into Spain near Roncesvalles.

Those (like me) traveling from France to Pamplona by train always at Irun, along the Bay of Biscay, this being an "alternate" pilgrimage route to the north, running nearer the ocean. During the course of that first visit to Pamplona, the older hands taught me many valuable lessons, among them the delightful existence of sloe-flavored patxaran liqueur, the Basque history of the world, and the significance of the Way of St, James.

Ever since then, I've wanted to follow the pilgrimage route some day. Although I've become somewhat of a walker, my original choice of transportation remains the bicycle; at 800 kilometers (500 miles) from the border to Santiago de Compostela, a leisurely month riding is easy to contemplate, allowing for noteworthy stops in between.

Now, finally, to the point: There is a movie about the Way of St. James, directed by Emilio Estevez and starring his father, Martin Sheen, and it's quite good. The Way was released four years ago, and we watched it last week. My resolve to make the journey at some point in my life has been strengthened, with niggling details concerning time and money yet to be resolved. 

A Trek From Loss and Grief to a Life Given Greater Meaning, by Neil Genzlinger (New York Times)

One thing you quickly realize when you sit down to watch “The Way”: Martin Sheen is a very compelling actor. Another thing you realize more slowly as the film goes along: His oldest son, Emilio Estevez, is a very sensitive director.