Safe & Sound

First, let me just let everyone know that I am safe and sound. I arrived in Santiago on Sunday and it was a wonderful experience. I am not scheduled to leave Spain until Saturday, so I was not anywhere in the vicinty of the plane crash in Bajaras. I am currently in Finisterr. It took 3 days to arrive here and it was more exciting for me to arrive here than it was to arrive in Santiago. Part of it is because, Santiago was part of a joruney, and the arrival to the cathedral was not an end point for me, as it was for others. It had always been about the journey and not the destination. Finisterr, however, holds sigificance, because it is arrival at the "end of the world," and the opportuiyt to experince the majesty of God while looking out to the Atlantic ocean. It will also be an opprtuiyt to watch the sun set over the Atlantic. A number of us will head to the coast tonight for the traditonal watching the sunset and burning of clothes we have worn on the Camino. The ritual signifies a doing away with the old and the beginning of a new life. For some it also involves bathing in the waters of hte Atlantic. For me, I will use the opportunity to remember my baptism and give thanks to God for a safe journey and a continued guidance in the Camino that continues in life beyond this experience. A passage of scriptues says that God will giove us the desires of our heart. As I began the Way of St. James, last year in France, and continued this year, the comment I often heard was, "I cant´t imagine ever doing something like that." In journeying along the Camino, a major lesson for me has been if I can imagine it, and can be open to the possibility, it is only a few steps before the possiblity becomes reality. I have come to believe that imagination is our ability to be open to the dreams and possibilities God places in our heart. If I am open to the possibilites, God usually has a way of making the possibilty a reality. I have learned to not place limitations on God by saying, "I can´t imagine doing...," because once I make that statement, I close myself to whattever dreams and possibilities God has for me. A pilgrim tha I met shared with me another way of hearing the scriture to which I referred earlier. For her, and I agree, it is when we are open that GOd will place desires within our heart, and then God will turn those desires into reality. And so, my dream is to remain oopen to the desires and dreams God places within my heart, and to be ready to follwo them wherever God might lead: France, Spain, Africa, Guatemala....God will place desires/dreams within your heart; may you be open to allowing God to turn them into reality. Dream it, believe that it is possible, and watch God make it real. I am all walked out, and will not be going to Muxia, there is no need. I just made my reservation to fly back to the States and tomorrow I will take a bus back to Santiago, have dinner with some friends and fly out on Saturday morning. God bless you all, and may you be blessed as you follow your Camino.

Almost There

Well, today I arrived in Azua. Not much here except hords of pilgrims! Some will reach Santiago tomorrow, others like myself will reach there on Sunday. The last couple of days travelling the Camino have been very interesting. At this point there are many more pilgrims on the road and the word I have chosen to describe the situation is "hords." Every where one looks or turns, there are pilgrims. The increase in numbers is for a couple of reasons: One, several of hte other routes have converrged into one. The other reason is that we have reached the 100k point and in order to receive the Compestela, many new pilgrims are joining the journey. There is now a feelilng of frenzy as all of these people rush their way to Santiago. I have been travelling at my regular meditative pace, but two days ago when I arrived at the out beyond city limit albergue I had chosen, the two places were full and had no more beds. My only option was to walk another two hours to the next town, arriving there a bit after 5. When I walked up to the albergue there were a number of people sitting outside. A couple of people I recognized informed me that everything in that village was full and that everything in Portomarin (the large town 2 hours away) was also full. These 2 persons had ordered a taxi to take them to Portomarin and had been informed that there was a private albergue with a few beds left, of course it would cost more than a public albergue, which is usually free or up 8 euros. They invited me to share the taxi with them to go to Portomarin and the driver contacted a private albergue that had some beds. They invited me to share a room with them and we were able to reserve three beds in a private room for 45 euros. As the taxi drove us to Portomarin, we passed scores of pilgrims who were making their way to the town not knowing that everything was full. As it turned out, the town opened up the sports center and the opverflow of pilgrims were housed there for the night. They had to sleep on the floor, which was OK for those who had a proper sleeping bag and perhaps a mat. For those like myself who have only a sleep sack, it was going to be an uncomforatable night. I continue to thank God for the couple and their invitation to share the taxi and a room. They are a father and daughter from Norway. The father, Ragnar, is 74 and wanted to travel the Camino, but his wife did not want him to go alone, so his daughter, Kari, decided to come with him. This has been the most time they have every spent together and they are enjoying it a great deal. Yesterday, I was concerned that I might face a similar situation of no bed. Again I had chosen an albergue in a small village beyond city limits, but thanks be to God, I was able to get the next to last bed. The Camino at this stage, for some, has become more otr less a competition to get a bed for the albergue fills up. The sign that no pilgrim wants to see, after a long tiring walk, is "Completo." The struggle at this stage ios not to get caught up in the frenzy. The books I read, and folks with whom I had spoken early in the journey all talked about the great numebrs of pèople who join the Caminio in the last 100k and the difficulty in securing a bed, I just didn´t think it would be this crazy. Some people are literally starting to walk at 4 or 5 in the morning in order to arrive at an albergue by 11 or 12 so that they can stand in line for a bed. You must understand, the sun does not rise until after 7! So these folks are walking in the dark, using their flashlights trying to find and follow the yellow arrows that indicate the path. Amazing!!!! A couplñe of times I was beginning to become frustrated and a little TO'd that the late comers were receiving the same consideration for a bed as those who have been walking for several weeks. But then God reminded of hte parable of the workers who all receeived that same wages, even though some of them did not start working unitl the end of the day. At that point, my rigtheous indignation cooled down. I do, however, have to keep reminding myself of that parable to keep my attitude in check! Well, I have my little albergues picked out for the next couple of days, and by the grace of God, I will have a bed for the next three nights. Since I plan to spend a rest day in Santiago, I will stay in a place Sunday night which will allow me to stay two nights. The general rule in albergues is that you are only allowed to stay one night unless you are ill and unable to walk. Until next time.

Unbelievable

Today is Tuesday and I arrived in Triascatela between 2 and 2:30. The albegue I had hoped to stay in was full, and so was my second choice. I found one that was not on any of my list and it turned out to be quite nice. It has a lodge feel to it and has a dining dining area as well as a separate room with several computers for internet. It may be the best albergue I have stayed in thus far. But what truly amazes me is taht yesterday when I was reviewing the stages I have left, I realized that I will be in Santiago on Sunday! Time has gone by so quickly, I thought I had a couple of weeks before I reached arrived. Unbelievable! If I leave a little ealrier thatn usual on Sunday, I should be able to arrive in Santiago in time to catch a morning worship service. I still can´t beleive that I am almost there. Once there, I will have the rest of Sunday to explore and will take Monday as a rest day to explore and manke travel arrangements for the return home. On Tuesday, I will head out for Finesterra (the End of the World), it should take me 3 day to get there. Once there, I will decide whether I will walk another day to Muxia, or take the bus. Today´s walk was begin with a steep uphill climb into O´Cebeiros, and as we were entering the province of Galicia, we were greeted by the famous Galician rains. To say the least, it was not an easy climb in the cold and the rain, and being so high up gusty winds. But it was worth it because having entered Galicia, we have entered the last province of the Camino, of which Santiago is the capital. The language here willbe differenct: in addition to Spanish, the people speak the Galician dialect which has some resemblance to Portuguese. It is also an area where many of the ancient non-Christian religious tradtions ahve survived. Subsequently, one see not only Christian artifacts beingsold, but a variety of others, of which I am not familiar. There is a strong sense ofhte mystical here in the region and culture aspects that have a strong Celtic flavor. I´m looking forward to my rest day in Santiago to explore the culture and food a bit more. I want to send up another prayer request. This one is for Martina who is from Holland. She is a heavy-et woman and has asthma and so the climbing presetns her with some difficulties. She would really like to make it to Santiago, so please keep her in prayer as she tries to manage her asthma whild negotiating the difficult climbs, high altitude, and probably more hot weather. Over the past several weeks, I have seen some incredible churches and cathedrals that are just magnificent to behold. It makes one wonder about the faith and dedication of the people of ancient times to have built such incredible structures, structures that are trully meant to glorify teh majesty of God. But despite all their beauty, there was another structure that impressed me even more. (Rob, if you´re reading this, I think you´ll understand.) The structure that imporessed me more than the churches was teh Castle of hte Templars. I must confess, I was totally blown away by the structure, not because it was in any way beautiful, only because it brought to mind every fantasy and adventure book I´ve ever read or film I´ve ever seen. I was reliving portions of Robin Hood, LOTR, Man in the Iron Mask; you name it, and as I went thorugh the castle, scenes from all of these went through my head! Waht can I say?!?

Please pray for Michael. He started walking from Germanyin April, and although we are about 10 days form Santiago, he is not sure he can keep going. He is feeling physically and emotionally at his limit. To make matters worse, he is suffering from pain that extends from his hip and down his leg. Please pray for healing and restoration of his spirit that he may continue. Please also pray for the spouses that were convinced by their husbands or campanions to make this journey. I do not think that walking the Camino is the dream vacation they always hoped for. I met one Japanese woman who was saying that she doesn´t even like the outdoors. She prefers to be at home watching TV, but her husband convinced her to come on the Camino for their vacation. For a couple of the other woman it is obvious that the Camino is starting to take a toll on them as I watch them struggle to keep up with their husbands, and struggle on the difficult climbs. One woman has been walking with her husband since they left Holland in April. These women are of a retired age and I do not think the Camino was what they had planned for their retired status. Pray for their encouragement as well as healing for the ones experiencing physical difficulties. Pray for Bernard from England. He joined the Camino yesterday and walked his first stage today. He came because someone said it would be a good idea, but he had no idea what it was or what it would be like. He sees no point in it and is not sure if he will continue. He is not thrilled with the dormitory style living arrangments, and trying to sleep with 40-60 other people in the room. Maybe God brought him to this journey for a reason: pray for revelation. And pray for Leonardo a 15 year old boy from Italy walking with his family. He is delightful for his age and has a proficient command of the Spanish and English languages. There are more and more people joining the Camino at this stage in order to fulfill the requirement of walking or biking the last 100-200K in order to receive the Compostela from the Cathedral. We are currently in Villafranca. In ancient times, if pilgrims made it this far and due to illness or phyiscal hardship cold go no further, thye could pass through the arch of the Iglesia de Santiago here in the village for dispensation and still receive the Compostela. Micheal thinks he may follow the traditon! I´m off to visit the church and take a small tour around town beofre maybe taking a small nap. Tomorrow will be a day of difficult climbing so I want to be well-rested. Ciao!

This afternoon I arrived in Ponferrada, following one of the steeper climbs on the Camino, if not the steepest. What makes this stage of the journey particularly significant is that it was alñong this stage that I came to the Cruz de Ferro, the Cross of Iron. For centuries, pilgrims have carried rocks from their homes to lay at the foot of this cross, those roacks presenting thier burdens, intercessions, petitions or other prayers. It is an amazing sight to see this mound of rocks and stones leading up to the cross. In addtion to the rocks, folks have places other objects there: pictures, stuffed animal, a pck of cigarettes and a lighter, articles of clothing, and the list goes on and on. Fot some people, it is a symbolic gestrue to be able to leave something at the Cruz de Ferro. For others, the objects hold a particular meaning. I had a rock that I had been carrying since last year: Chris and Richard, my prayers are with you and your families as you face some challenging times. Karen, there is one there for you as you go through this time of loss, and there is one for my family whom I miss. I was also able to obtain some really nice shots of hte sun rising behind the cross. Some of you will get to see these. The depth of the human need to believe that there is some power beyond oneself to aid in time of need is absolutely amazing to me. Whether or not people can claim or acknowledge a belief in God, they have a need to beleive that "something" is out there to help. It is obvious in so many ways along the Camino. Conversations, fences that line the highway or a wooded path, on which people place crosses that they have fashioned, some of them quite creative and elaborate, made from items that people find on the ground around. So many people and so many stories: Armado, who took it upon himslef to be my personal tour guide while I was in Astorga two days ago. He recognized that I was a pilgrim, left his bicycle outside a shop and proceeded to take me to some of the important cultural sights of the city. In his opinion, Astorga has the most cultural attractions of any town on the Camino. Armado is very proud of his hometown. Africa, who today directed me to the correct path when I was heading in the wrong direction, and then proceeded to escort me along a shorter path to the albergue. Michael, who started the Camino in Munich, Germany and has been walking for the past several months. Despite tendinitis and times of discourgament, he still hopes to make it to Santiago. The human spirit is an amazing thing and I give God thanks for its many manifestations. Blessings to all.

Discipline

I left Leon this morning around 7:00 amd arrived here in San Martin around 1:30, a distance of a about 24K. All is well with the body; no aches or pains anywhere. The dayof rest in Leon gave my feet the time aanbd rest theyt needed to finish healing and be ready to hit the road again. As a result I am able to walk at a comfortable pace that is close to my pace wihtout a fully loaded back pack. The temptation in this is that because I can cover approx. 20-25K by 1:00, I know that I could easily cover 35-40k by the close of the afternoon. It is taking a conscious act of diicpline not to puch myself to "go the extra miles." The only reason to go the extra distance would be to prove myself right in being able to do it, and to feed my need to succeed. It is a very deliberate effort ont he part of this goal oriented, task oriented over achiever, to allow herself to go as far as needed and not push for the extra. I realize that if I were to go for the extra kilometers it would no purpose other than feed my ego. 100% done well is usually enough; there really is no need to always strive for 200%. That is a lesson that is often difficult for me to accept. The Camino is offering me an opportunity to not follow my usual practice of being an over achiever. When I reach my destination and my "work" is completed for the day, I am accepting that it is OK to stop, and not to keep going just beacuse there is still more time available and I could accomplish more. And so, I will try to continue to stop at what ever location I am able to reach by 2 or 3. I will stay conscious of not getting pulled into the midst that many have that they must travel as great a distance as they can every day. I will remember the differentiation that Herriman makes between a pilgrim and a tourist, and not turn my Camino experience into a race for the miles. The bigger challenge will be when I return to the "real" world, where the majority mindset is about over working, over acheiving and pushing for more; trying to fit as much as possible into a limited amount of time, and feeling guilty (or made to feel guilty) when the 200% is not acheived. No Thanks! Buen Camino my friends, and my your journey be one that takes place in a "relaxed manner" at a pace that is healthy and nurturing of your spirit.

Another Saint

Today I travelled the approx. 30 k from Calzadillo de los Hermaillos to Puente Villarente. I left the albergue just before 6 because I knew the distance was long and I was concerned about the heat. Usually, wif I leave around 7 in the morning the air is cool and sometimes cold. This morning at 6 the air was already warm. I tturned out to be a very hot day. I have decided that each day I will try to complete my walking by 2:00 in hte afternoon. After 1:00 the heat starts to become quite unbearable, and it stays very hot well into the evvening. Staying here at the albergue is a man from Belguim called Herriman. He is 64 years old and three years ago suffered a stroke, and four years ago lost his wife. As a resuslt of hte stroke, he does not have full use of the right side of his body and has a little difficulty with speech. Herriman walks wiht a cane and has thus far covered almost 2000K on the Camino. His plan is to make it Santiago. Herriman is quite the theologian and philosopher and shared his view on what a "real" pilgrim is campared to the "tourists" on the Camino. In his opinion the real pilgrim is the one who is here exploring the inner life and listening for God and watching for God. The toursist are competing to see how many kilometers they can cover each day. Because of his stroke, he is only able to cover about 1 mile/hour., and if he can will try to cover 4K in a day. He states that this allows him to see everything around him and to consider what is going on. He also cannot wear his boots because they are too small. Instead he is walking in soft canvass shoes. This he says allows him to feel every rock along the path. The rocks he compares to the sins in our life of which we must be aware. We try to avoid the bigs ones, but it´s the little ones that often cause us to hurt others. Herriman does not believe in coincidences, but believes that God brings people together for a reason. He talked about the various people God has introduced into his life along the Camino to help him when he needed it. After finishing the Camino, Herriman will got to Fatima and then on to another destination. I wish you could meet him. He is trully an amazing man. I´m well. The blisters are healed and I jsut have a couple of small (but annoying) sore spots on my feet. Other than the heat, the walking is very relaxing and enjoyable. Seeking to stop walking each day at 2:00 will be a good personal care move on my part. Since this "winter girl" is not so keen on hot weather any way, starting early in the morning and ending early in the day will serve both my body and mind well. Others (perhaps the "tourists" push thmesleves to try to cover as much distancce eah day as possible and push themsleves in the afternoon heat. Personally, I do not think this is a wise thing to do. Pilgrims have been known ot die on thCamino from heart-attacks and pushing themsleves too hard. On hte more challenging roads, thare are civil patrol guards patroling the route for any pilgrims who are having difficulty and need a ride. Well, I´m a little more than half the way to Santiago. I cannot beleive how fast time has gone by. My pilgrim passport is half full of stamps. Many of these are ones I collected from churches and other palces along the way that were providing stamps just for stopping by. I bought another passport in case my ohter becomes full before I reach Santiago. We often say that we are like children when it copmes to collecting all these extra stamps. One day a band of Us stood outsied the window of the Unitversity of Navarre because the guard said that we could obtain a stamp there. And we did! I will arrive in Leon tomorrow and will stay there an for my rest day (for real this time!) Blessings.

Amazing People

Along the Camino, one meets many incredible people. Some are pilgrims, others are folks one meets along the way while walking. Let me introduce you to three of them. The first is Miguel Martinez. As I was searching for the albergue in Itero, an older gentleman came from what appeared to be a garage, took hold of my arm and was trying to lead me into the space. I had no idea what he was saying because he was not using full sentence. The garage was covered in pictures, and of course as a wary American, I was very suspicious. He gave me a slip of paper with his name and address on it, and finally said some words I could understand. He wanted to me send him a letter and when I reached Santiago, he wanted me to embrace the saint for him. (It is the custom that when pilgrims arrive in Santiago, they go the the statue of hte saint embrace it.) Miguel is 91 years old and his hobby is collecting all manner of pictures and putting them up in this space. He has pictures from magazines, pictures of a relgious nature, and many pictures of himself with pilgrims. Every inch of space of the walls and ceiling is covered with pictures. I later brought Mart (Holland) to also meet him. Mart loves to talk and wants everyone´s e-mail so that he can correspond. I knew he would love to meet Sn. Martinez, and he was delighted. Sr. Martinez also gave him one of the slips of paper with his address. He has a small notebook with many copies and gives them to pilgrims as they pass by. The paper containes contact information, as well as his age and the request to embrace the Santiago for him. Alejandro Sandoval Ortega: As I was walking to Villacazar de Sirga I saw an older gentleman walking towards me. He was dressed in a vest and cap and wlked with a cane. Because of his dress and the fact that he was writng in a small notebook, I thought he migh be buird watching. As I aproached him, he asked if I ws a pilgrim on my way to Santiago. When I responded yes, he asked me to woite my name and country in his little noebook. He wore a couple of badges with his nmae of them and each said in Spanish "friend of pilgrims." As he encounters pilgrims along the road he greets them and obtains their name and country and then sends them off with a blessing. As I looked at the notebook, I could see that he had many many names of people that he had encountered. Marie Felicité: I met marie today as I was walking to Terradillos. I noticed a woman walking ahead of me who seemed a bit overdressed for hte weather. It was quite warm and she was wearing a fleeced-lined hat and scarf, a jacket, plus a jacket around her waist. When I passed her, I said hello, and she called and aksed if I was "Marcelle." I said yes, and she said tha a man in Belorado had told her about me. From her description; I think it was Olivier, a Frenchman I had met along the way. He had probably told her about me because she too is a black woman. When I saw her again a little later of the road, she told me that she was from France and that she is intending to go all the way to Santiago. She walks a bit each day, and then a taxi meets her at her ending point and drives her back to her starting point. The next day, the taxi takes her to the ending point of the previous day to begin the next stage. Today, I travlelled about 32K, her itineray had her ending point about 45 minutes from my own. She was moving along at a pace that suited her and seemed to be doing well. She did not appear to be to hot in all her clothing. Marie Felicité appeared to be at least 60 years old and was a delightful woman. Three different people, in three different towns, a blessing each one of them: Miguel, Alejandro and Marie Felicité. May you be blessed with an unexpected encounter this day.