Breaking
“The first ten days breaks your body, the second ten days breaks your mind, and the last ten days breaks your spirit.” Cascade was given this wisdom from a hospitalero (one who offers hospitality by running a pilgrim hostel). I’m only 6 days into this, but Cascade is on day 13 (have to ask her about the truth or otherwise of that claim!) Our feet certainly don’t look like we’re fresh from the nail salon, but we are sincerely having the time of our lives. There are rich treasures to be mined in the periods of silence and solitude in between conversations along the way. The special camaraderie between pilgrims is priceless. A typical day involves walking for 6-8 hours, which leaves lots of time to connect with fellow peregrinos at cafes and hostels. Already, some I’ve had the pleasure of meeting people from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, U.K., U.S.A. … this is a rich experience in so many ways. Offering smiles, hellos in a variety of languages, giving encouragement, praying, conversing in simple Russian or German or baby Spanish, connecting more deeply with a handful of people each day … treasured memories!
A couple of stories from my journey:
Yesterday was hot. We set out early enough (6:30am as usual) but the walk from the last town before our destination, Burgos, was long, hot, and mostly full sun. Even with my wide-brimmed hat, sun protection, and plenty of water, I got overheated 4km from the end, with racing heartbeat and just feeling weird. Cascade was only ten minutes ahead of me so I sent her a quick text and plopped down on a lovely bench, as we had just entered some kind of public park where many locals were walking or jogging. A kind elderly Spanish gentleman noticed my plight and came and sat beside me. We managed some basic communication (my Spanish has been gleaned from a combination of level 1 audio CDs + teaching ESL + random Spanish worship songs). He offered to accompany me all the way to my destination, even with his bad knee. We set off slowly, resting as needed, and caught up with Cascade after 1km or so … I sure was glad to see her! We profusely thanked Fernando, this angel-in-disguise, then after making sure I was OK, Cascade admirably finished the day’s walk under the getting-hotter-every-afternoon Spanish sun. Meanwhile, I hobbled (most pilgrims tend to hobble by the end of each day) over to a nearby street and approached a group of mothers and children outside a school. They kindly phoned for a taxi on my behalf. I am so thankful for the kindness of strangers. Here in Spain, the pilgrimage (Camino de Santiago) is held in high esteem, and many passers-by each day call out encouragement. Precious!
In a cafe conversation yesterday, I heard of one local 70-something man in the last town we stayed at who has walked the Camino 30-something times and is planning to do it again this September. Inspiring!
A couple of nights ago, I happened to be sitting at the same table in the café attached to our hostel where an angsty 16-yr-old “A” had left his phone charging. He plonked down and after I asked him a couple of open-ended questions, poured out his story of pain, rejection, and broken promises. I asked him who he’d come on the Camino with (it’s unusual to see children or teens) … he referred to his traveling companion as his “keeper.” Not sure of all that was going on, but he seemed convinced that he was worthless and unloved. I don’t know how else to describe it than as a God-moment, but he seemed to soak up the words I spoke to him, that God is passionately pursuing him and will never break His promises to him. I talked to him about the amazing reality that God created him to bear His image, that Jesus loves him soooo much, and that God has a beautiful plan for his life, that He wants intimate relationship with him more than anything else. I’m guessing he’d not heard much about God or Jesus before, but he wanted me to write down how he could find out more, so I suggested listening to the gospel of John on www.biblegateway.com. Pray for him, will you?
I have walked about 120km so far; Cascade’s up around the 300km mark … I’m taking a rest day today and hoping to find a bus …
Hoping to figure out photos for my next blog post …
