Whisperings

a gift left for pilgrims on a simple little seat on the outskirts of Moissac

"Believe in the whisperings of God to your own heart"

~ Mary MacKillop 
as quoted by Bishop John Dew after his return from the Camino

It was a beautiful walk to Moissac, but quite a lot was on hard tarmac, 

and my feet were feeling tender as I reached the outskirts of the city.

Imagine my joy to find a simple little seat under a tree

with a sign that said it was a rest area for pilgrims,

and someone had even left some lollies on the little table. 

I sat down, took off my boots and socks- oh sweet relief-

put some tape on the 'hot spots' on my feet

ate a lolly, and was refreshed

as there were still several kms of city walking before the gîte.

I don't know who set up this simple little rest area

or left the lollies

but the love showed.
It seemed like they had listened to a whisper of God to their heart.
 

 

Reaching out

crops waving in the wind between Montcuq and Lauzerte

"There are things you can't reach
but you can reach out to them
and all day long.
The wind,
the bird flying away.
The idea of God."

~ Mary Oliver

God on the journey

"The feeling remains that God is on the journey too."

~Teresa of Avila

The day I walked to Los Arcos the landscapes were simply stunning, all day

but for some unexplained reason (maybe I was a little dehydrated)

in the latter part of the walk everything seemed too hard

and I had this awful feeling of being lost

that I would never find a village

that I would wander aimlessly here for hours...

But when I reached the village, there was a group of Irishmen 

sitting outside a cafe who asked how I was

and for once I said the truth - that it was hard and I felt lost.

They were my angels- I sat and conversed with them

I had dinner with them and I was 'found' again.

They were all fervent Christians these Irishmen

and it seemed like God knew I needed looking after this day.

This moment

spring leaves, one morning en route for Moissac

"We have only this moment,

sparkling like a star in our hand,

and melting like a snowflake."

~Sir Francis Bacon

One of the 'lessons' for me on the Camino was that you could spend time 
thinking about your sore feet or other body woes 
or you could just accept them, and instead notice 
and be thankful
and there were always so many things to notice and be thankful for
now, in the present moment.

Sacred Ground

On my very first day of walking, on the plateau above Le-Puy-en-Velay

before reaching Saint Christophe sur Dolaison

"Standing on Holy Ground 

– all is Sacred and all is gift"

I was nervous on that very first climb out of Le Puy
as I had heard it was steep, and wasn't sure if my fitness would be found wanting.

I was so pleased to find all my pre-Chemin walks meant it proved to be not too daunting.

I soon found myself relaxing into the landscape of the plateau above Le Puy

filled with an immense happiness to be there

and hoping that weeks of walking in the outdoors lay ahead.

I was filled with reverence and joy.

Life just seemed like pure gift in those moments.

A journey that remains...

 arrow seen en route for Melide in the last days of my Camino

 "....suddenly it began to really hit me...

I was days from Santiago.  My epic was nearly over.  

Or so I thought at the time.  

Journeys like this...they stay with you, in you forever.  

Rather like having a child, 

you are never ever quite the same."

~Karin

On an unknown road

 Somewhere after Navarrenx, in the Basque country, nearing the Pyrenees

"I’d rather be stumbling along an unknown road

than safely cooped up in even the nicest cul-de-sac"

~Paul

on People for Others blog

I loved walking down this wet path, under the shelter of trees dripping with the rain. It was refreshing and enlivening. And flat and easy- which was not to be the case on the chemin later in the day!

Love changes everything

Françoise and Roger on the plateau above Cahors on a very hot day

"Love,
Love changes everything:
Hands and faces,
Earth and sky,
Love,
Love changes everything:
How you live and
How you die"

~Andrew Lloyd Webber
(see the whole song YouTube)
 

This was a day when I had a lot of contact with Françoise and Roger, and they turned out to be guardian angels. I had met them the previous evening in the convent at Vaylats where we shared the evening meal together. After lunch this day, I ran out of water in the unexpected heat. Somehow or other it seems that we met a local who discovered we were low on water... he returned and gave my angels some water. They ran in the heat to catch up to me to share the water...cold fresh water.... Their kindness in giving me the water was every bit as restorative as the water itself. 

I never saw Françoise and Roger again after this act of kindness: I would love to know how they got on, and if they reached Santiago... 

How can you explain?

 On the plateau above Le-Puy-en-Velay - on the first day of walking

"How can you explain that you need to know that the trees are still there, 

and the hills and the sky?  

Anyone knows they are.  

How can you say it is time your pulse responded to another rhythm, 

the rhythm of the day and the season 

instead of the hour and the minute?  

No, you cannot explain.  So you walk."

~Author unknown, from New York Times editorial, "The Walk," 25 October 1967

It was something very special, the frisson of joy that I knew as I walked into the countryside at the top of the climb out of Le Puy. All going well, I was embarking on something that would let me be a walker in the outdoors for weeks and weeks to come. 
I have just returned home from a Camino gathering in Hamilton: how good it was to be with a group of people who had also walked, and who understood, who didn't need an explanation about 'why' you would do such a thing...

patience

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quote found on Picturing God website

a significant journey

 My Camino shoes, all washed and scrubbed up for the journey home
-hopefully clean enough to get through our Kiwi quarantine checks-
somewhat more battered than when they started the journey.

“Every significant journey changes us in some way.  

We are hardly ever aware of this while we are in the midst of it.  

We may have hints and glimpses of these changes 

but it is only later, in looking back 

that we gasp in amazement at what was being formed and shaped in our lives.  

Only then do we recognize how a new attitude, 

a stronger dedication, 

and a fuller passion stretched us into the fullness of life.  

Then we are able to identify the journey’s ability 

to propel us into unexpected growth."

- Joyce Rupp Walk in a Relaxed Manner

 Seen on Andy's Pilgrimpace blog- thanks Andy.

Small Beauty

"Look closely. The beautiful may be small."   

 ~ Immanuel Kant

A black slug on the Napoleon Route across the Pyrenees.

They seemed to live in thick black leaf detritus -under trees near the top of the pass-

that saturated my socks in black muck that took forever to rinse out!!

For Kay and Craig

'climb' in the Auvergne region

on the first day out of Le-Puy-en-Velay

(This post is especially for Kay and Craig 

who are both about to start walking from Le-Puy-en-Velay in the coming week.)

"Watch your way then, as a cautious traveler

and don't be gazing at that mountain

or river in the distance

and saying, "How shall I ever get over them?"

but keep to the present little inch that is before you

and accomplish that

in the little moment that belongs to it.

The mountain and the river can only be passed

in the same way

and when you come to them

you will come to the light and strength

that belong to them."

~Kelty

Found on the sidebar of Mary Pott's blog 'Landing on my Feet'

in honour of her daughter who died of cancer aged 18  

 Church belltower in Galicia, on one of the last days of the walk to Santiago

"There are thoughts which are prayers. 

There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, 

the soul is on its knees." 

 ~Victor Hugo 

seen on Kelle Hampton's blog

Seeing a church tower in the sunlight always brought me joy

and made me think of all those who in centuries gone by

had walked to Santiago. 

...a moment of communion
thinking of the ever-flowing river of pilgrims...

Shining

 my shadow on the descent from O'Cebreiro to the green of Galicia

"Shine through me and be in me 

so that every soul I come in contact with 

may feel your presence in my spirit."

~Blessed John Henry Newman

 quote found on Becky Eldredge's blog

Glorious Dawn

  the landscape just past Astorga, early one morning following a thunderstorm

“Let the splendour of your glory dawn in our hearts.”

~Liturgy of the Hours 

 Quote from Picturing God Blog

Everyday miracles

A few of the many wildflowers seen beside the path en route for Rabanal del Camino

“Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.”

~John O’Donohue

h/t: quote seen on the Picturing God blog.

Courage

 Spring appearing on the descent from the Aubrac Plateau

"Courage doesn't always roar. 

Sometimes courage is the quiet voice 

at the end of the day saying, 

"I will try again tomorrow." 

~Mary Anne Radmacher

Occasionally there were 'hard days' on the Camino.

One such day was the first day of crossing the Aubrac Plateau when I got so wet and cold. 
It wasn't the wet and cold that was so hard, it was the fact I was walking alone in those conditions, 
and knew there was a chance of becoming hypothermic, alone. 

So the next morning, I had to 'make myself' walk on.... 
I had to take my own courage by the scruff of the neck 
and walk on for the second day of the Aubrac crossing. 

And at the end of the day as I descended from the Plateau to a lower altitude,

even though I felt exhausted

there was the joy of seeing the world around me

change into early spring...

With respect

 cross seen in countryside on first day's walk out from Le-Puy-en-Velay

"Can I see another's woe, and not be in sorrow too? 

Can I see another's grief, and not seek for kind relief "

~William Blake

With sadness, thinking of those who died in the Christchurch earthquake

February 2011

Instruct ourselves... in joy...

en route for Aumont-Aubrac

               "It is what I was born for - 

                      to look, to listen,

to lose myself

    inside this soft world -

              to instruct myself

                     over and over

in joy

   and acclamation.

      Nor am I talking

          about the exceptional,

the fearful, the dreadful,

    the very extravagant -

       but of the ordinary,

           the common, the very drab,

the daily presentations."

~Mary Oliver

from the poem, 'Mindful'

It seemed like quite a long day from Les Faux to Aumont-Aubrac,
and when I checked my e-mail for the first time since leaving Paris
there was some sad, hard news about a family at home.

But even though it seemed like a bit of a dull, even difficult day,
the sun still came out 
to leave the shadow of this tree on the ground
a quiet bit of joy to notice.