This is a guest post by Rebecca Bishop, who will be walking the Camino for the first time next year.

She sent me a story about something that happened to her last year. It involved an intuitive “voice” that she heard, and it changed her life. Rebecca is a Mormon – and she interprets that voice as the Holy Spirit.

I’m currently researching the subject of intuition for my upcoming film. Those that adhere to a scientific world-view would explain that voice in terms involving quantum physics, those holding spiritual beliefs would interpret it as a communication from the Higher Self or a Guardian Angel, those with a religious view other than Christian would describe it in ways consistent with their beliefs, or their particular deity.

That to me is what makes intuition such a fascinating subject. Because it can be interpreted in so many different ways.

However, Rebecca’s story is interesting not because of the source of the voice so much, as the subsequent impact it had on her life. In part it led her to the Camino.

Here’s her story:

THE STILL SMALL VOICE – Rebecca Bishop

It was Christmas morning, 2013.

In the weeks before, I had made some very cute gingerbread treats to take to some of the women in my ward. I made up a small package for each of them and set out to make the deliveries.

As I was driving up a deserted arterial in north Tacoma on the way to the last stop, I ‘heard’ a voice say, “You are going to die.”

It was very clear. It was calm. It wasn’t urgent, but it also wasn’t me. It was a still, small voice that I heard in my head.

As member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have no question that it was the Holy Spirit communicating with me. The problem was, I didn’t know what to do with the information.

Was it a warning? Did it mean it was going to happen soon? Was it a confirmation of what everyone knows is inevitable? Or was there something I needed to avoid so it wouldn’t happen right at that minute?

Many thoughts ran though my head in a matter of seconds. I slowed down and felt paralyzed and more than a bit fearful. I wondered if I was going to die right at that moment.

When that didn’t happen, more questions started running though my head: Do I keep going? Maybe there will be an accident. Do I stop here? Maybe I’m going to have a heart attack and if I stop I won’t hurt anyone else.

I had to stop.

I pulled over and just sat there for a few minutes. I thought of my dogs and what might happen to them if I never got home. I wasn’t crying, but there were tears running down my face. My heart was pounding and I felt like I was in some kind of heightened reality.

My mind, my soul, was searching to know that was meant by: “You are going to die.”

Seven months later, I’m still not completely sure why I heard that voice or exactly what it means, but I can say that I have been worried for several years now that my financial means to keep me comfortable would run out before I die.

One of the things I’m hoping to figure out on the Camino is how to earn more money. I have a lot of talents and experience, but I don’t know how to use them to my advantage. I think if I listen to the spirit and ponder these questions, I can find some answers as I walk.

The logical extension is that if I’m going to die sooner rather than later, then it’s time to have some fun. It’s been liberating. I’ve wanted to travel my whole life. So the idea that I have to step out and do something big before I die makes me sense to me. Why wait?

I feel compelled to walk the Camino and I believe these things are intertwined. Perhaps the voice I heard was telling me to get busy. What I know for sure is that it changed everything.

It set me on a new path and I am grateful for that.