Purpose on the Camino

I guess that it is true that on the Camino you meet the kinds of issues that challenge you to become a better person but I wonder if that is less a spiritual practice than a practical one. On this route you meet all kinds of different people because they are out walking too. It is easy to identify the people who rub you the wrong way because your sensitivities are supercharged with the exertion of every day. This leads one to recognize discomfort instantly. So I guess I don't see it as a spiritual connection made special by walking the Camino (in French it is called the Chemin). What becomes or has been a spiritually guided characteristic of the Camino has been the faith based belief that the saints will grant you pardon for your sins or heal your wounds. I think deep down those commited to the pilgrimage even today seek this faith in miracles. Today we were in a church in Saint Antoine and a religious relic, the right hand of Saint Antoine of the desert, was on display. I pointed the relic out to one of my companions to which she immediately replied that there is no way to say that it is really the hand of the Saint. Well that is my point precisely, pilgrims seek miracles large or small based on faith or their belief in those relics. It is important. It is not nor should it be a question of proof. When I went outside to tell my other companion what I had found, the type of relic I had been searching for these 275 miles, she jumped to her feet to see what it was like and was in as much awe as I had been. There are pilgrims on this trail and there are hikers too.