Dawn seemed to arrive earlier
today - guess I was tired? A glorious sunrise, and we were up, packed and out
the door by 8. Beautiful monastic music plus my verse for today renewed my
spirit and, I hoped, my body too.
Isaiah 40:31 ‘Those
who wait = serve patiently, walk together with, upon the Lord shall renew their
strength;
they will mount up =
not fall, but rise up above every obstacle and triumph through every test; with
eagle’s wings = Word + Spirit, faith + grace, truth + love; They shall walk +
not be weary.’ I especially claimed this last part!
So we walked through
Astorga: its plazas, past the catedral,
even a Gaudi landmark – his fantasies always stand out!
And just at the city
edge, we found a café con leche abierto =
coffee shop open, before heading out into the country.
Then the Irish couple
we’d met on the train appeared and walked with us for the next 10 kms. We even
took a slight detour to a unique Maragoto = a distinct ethnic group, village. Everything
was built of stone: houses, walls, roofs, roads. Made to last!
But I noticed I was
starting to lag behind again and when we stopped for breakfast, I wasn’t too
steady on my feet. Michael noted that we’d taken 4 hours for only 11 kms: only half way for the day. Perhaps I should
try to get a bus?
I didn’t want to give
up, but it started to rain, the rest of the way was uphill and now it was cold
and wet and I really wasn’t feeling well, so… I phoned for a taxi.
Michael continued walking
and as I drove by him a little later; the rain poured down and cars coming from
the uphill direction even had snow covering them! My ride covered in 20 minutes
what would have taken me 4 hours walking. I thought, ‘This isn’t much fun right
now; and if I’m feeling like this on only my 3rd day on the Camino,
how can I finish the remaining 280 kms?
My taxi dropped me off
in Rabanal del Camino right at Pilar
Albergue, a rough and rustic stone wood hostel. Isabella, the hostess, greeted
me warmly and led me into an even warmer room with a fireplace burning, but I
was shivering, so I right away climbed into my bunk and slept for the next 3
hours! I guess I was tired!
When I awoke, Michael had
arrived soaked but happy to find a warm place to dry himself and his wet
clothes.
Nothing like a fire to
draw peregrinos together on a cold,
wet day and as each arrived, we got to meet them and get to know their motives
for walking.
Most were young and
adventurous.
‘S from Seattle’ had
already walked for 3 weeks; his 1st day in the Pyrenees he’d battled
3ft of snow! He wanted to prove he could break through personal limits: the Camino
became his endurance test and he’d walked 50 km/day despite tendonitis and a
couple toenails falling off. A cynic, he looked at my blister and warned,
‘Doesn’t look good; if that gets infected, you’re done for!’ Not very
encouraging, I thought.
Some were trying to escape:
walking away from issues back home, circumstances, conflicting relationships?
One was hoping to lose
weight, another to overcome addictions.
2 Italians were
running over 50km/day in flip-flops!... Why!?
Francesco, another
Italian, was biking the whole route.
‘Ohio’ + her mom thought
they should ‘just do it.’
Germans comprised the
majority; wanderlust I guess?
‘B’, a young Polish computer games engineer,
was taking his time, writing his thesis: Many who have affected Western
society’s moral basis (eg Freud, Marx, Margaret Mead, Keynes, Wilhelm Reich) in
the last century were themselves psychologically deranged, actually seeking to
undermine family values + gender identity which liberals have tolerated and
permitted to the extent they’ve become, as he described it, an oxymoron =
oppressive tolerance!.
‘D from Toronto’ wanted to walk all day and
party all night, but was really looking for healing in her identity.
Not many
peregrinos admitted their motives were ‘spiritual’; most seemed to treat it
as being out for a long walk, but few seemed to be here to walk with God?
I remarked how our modern values or lack of
them were reflected by the Way, originally a very Roman Catholic route of
penance and forgiveness, but now very secularized.
And it made me face my real motive for walking
the Camino? especially now it seemed a real possibility I would not be able to
continue all the way to Santiago.
When you come face-to-face with losing
something, its true value becomes all the more precious and vital.
Later that evening we attended a Benedictine service in what was one of the oldest restored chapels on the Camino. 2 German monks prayed in Latin, Spanish and heavily
accented English and I understood very little. I asked the Lord to make a Way
where there didn’t seem to be one…. and it didn’t take long!
A group of us went for
supper afterwards. Over a welcome bowl of hot soup, ‘K the German lady’ told us
how she had her packsack shipped ahead daily to her next stop and asked, ‘Why
don’t you do that also?
I remembered the Victoria
father and daughter we’d met in the Madrid airport who’d said they were doing
this right and now it seemed like a wonderful idea!
Back at the hostel,
Isabella kindly phoned the Camino Service and arranged for them to not only drive
my pack,
but me too, over the
summit the next day.
I went to bed
thinking, ‘Maybe it’s not such a bad idea for me to do this for the next couple
of days?
After all, this Camino
is not my endurance test. I have nothing to prove. Nor am I here to party.
I’m here to walk with my son. Our family has been through much in these
last 3 years and I want to make the most of this to continue walking through,
through life, through whatever trial it takes, together, in the faith, hope and
love that will open doors for my children, grandchildren and great-children, the
next generations who will follow, walk, and fulfill their call.
I’m not here so much for my sake, but for Christ’s
sake and them. So I prayed, ‘Let your Way be known, Lord.’
And it was!
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