Happiness within you

snow on the ground leaving Montbonnet

  

"Your success and happiness lies in you. 

Resolve to keep happy, 

and your joy and you 

shall form an invincible host against difficulties."

~ Helen Keller

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.

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  

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

Simplicity, Patience, Compassion

Woman who had walked from Brittany, relaxing in Ostabat,

"I have just three things to teach: 

simplicity, patience, compassion. 

These three are your greatest treasures. 

Simple in actions and in thoughts, 

you return to the source of being. 

Patient with both friends and enemies, 

you accord with the way things are. 

Compassionate toward yourself, 

you reconcile all beings in the world."

(Tao Te Ching, Chapter 67)

This French woman who I met in Ostabat was persevering despite great pain in her feet. 
I never saw her again after SJPP where I took an extra rest day. I hope she made it to Santiago, either on this walk or at a later time. She had walked pretty much alone until Bordeaux when she had met a pair of women walking, one of whom was seriously sight-impaired. 
The three walked together, helping each other. They were an inspiration.

Mist in the hills surrounding O'Cebreiro

Mist seen in valleys below on the descent from O'Cebreiro

"What’s it like to be back? We can’t seem to stop walking, and on one of our impromptu hikes, Lisa observed: “I thought it would be somehow more . . . spiritual.”

I thought it would be more spiritual, too. Originally, we’d planned to walk the questions posed in John’s gospel, pondering one question each day. There are some great ones, worthy of weighty consideration: “What are you looking for?” “Do you want to be made well?” “Do you also want to go away?” And Pilate’s hauntingly cynical: “What is truth?”

On the Camino, however, the questions that consumed us were quite different: “Was that the alarm?” “Should I be paying attention to this pain?” “Can we stop for a café con leche?” “Are we there yet?”

So much for John’s questions.

But I could tell you the phases of the moon along the trek, when the first light comes, how the sun glints off the lantern of the cathedral of Santiago. I could describe magical forests in Galicia and how the morning mists create islands of the hills surrounding O’Cebreiro"....

"This is not the spirituality we anticipated; it’s the spirituality we got."

~ Martha E. Stortz

from "Pilgrimage"

an article in Santa Clara Magazine

Summer 2010 

Woyaya- We will get there

Home-made sign seen soon after Arzacq-Arraziguet

"We will get there
Heaven knows how we will get there
We know we will
It will be hard we know
And the road will be muddy and rough
But we'll get there
 Heaven knows how we will get there
We know we will."

~Osibisa 

Along the way at times, especially in France,

you would see home-made 

signs, or seats, or shelters, or food/drink stops

for pilgrims.

Always, it was great for morale,

a sign that others were thinking of you, encouraging you along the Chemin. 

Always, a little 'thank you' prayer went up...

Compassion

 sign on the door of Red Cross Clinic for pilgrims, Estella 

"Compassion is a verb." 

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Estella is reached within a few days walk after leaving Roncesvalles, 

and for some who started, perhaps too quickly,

there has been time for bodies and feet to lay complaints about the treatment meted out.

Some 'veteran' pilgrims also have bodies that are in need of some tenderness 

with the Pyrenees safely crossed behind them.

I know two people who visited this Red Cross Clinic

run by volunteers for pilgrims.

They -one 'newbie' and one 'veteran'- found it a haven of kindness,

with soft music, and tender, gentle care,

a safe place for tears.

People who show compassion

are treasures in this world.

Beauty

The village of Hontanas, 

on the Meseta, mid-June 2008

"Beauty consoled and strengthened me

during the countless times my legs and feet hurt from walking

and my shoulders pained from carrying my backpack.....

...... The natural splendor around me gave me hope

when my hungry soul longed for a touch of enthusiasm.

Always the many forms of beauty on the Camino

reached out to me,

asking nothing more than that I embrace their gifts."

~Joyce Rupp

in 'Walk in a Relaxed Manner: 

Life Lessons from the Camino'

Pilgrimage in the tougher times

Pilgrim leaving Rieutort d'Aubrac
on a morning that promises difficult weather conditions, like the day before.

"Brendan who was leading the Novena said,
“If you don’t feel like doing this,
if you are angry, if you have problems, if your faith is weak…
you are especially welcome…
come on the journey with us and let us support you through these nine days together.”

In that moment I realised that last year that’s what my Caminos
including the nine day journey in Clapham
had done for me.
I’ve learned that pilgrimage is not just for the good times in life,
it can also be about sustaining us
through the times of great difficulty."

~From Johnnie Walker's post
'Pilgrimage is not just for the good times'

Pilgrim life as it is lived.....

Lunch break with other pilgrims at Saint Felix, en route to Figeac

Some gems from Nell's Camino Frances blog:

"Also met up with the Swedish church group who started in Samos.... They told us that we were the subject of their group discussion yesterday and that we are their 'Camino Heros'.....So just in case you want to know the criteria to become a subject for discussion for Swedish Lutheran church groups in the future its because:

- we told them yesterday that it hasn't really got easier for us but that
we've just got more used to 'stopping the bitching and getting on with it';

-that no matter how long or short the distance the last 4 km of the day always kills us;

-that we haven't had a 'Camino crisis' but that we felt OK about that;

- that one of our strongest memories would be of laughing every day....

-after 800km and five weeks we had the less than shattering realisation that,
if given the time and opportunity to appreciate them,
everyone turns out to be pretty much OK, even the bloody cyclists!"

Read the whole extract from Nell's blog here, and prepare to laugh!!! And I sooooo agree about the last 4km of the day- it's a universal rule- get used to the idea if you plan to walk the Camino- and it is especially pertinent if you can 'see' the endpoint!