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.

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... 

Showing Love

With friends met on the Camino, in Santiago near the Cathedral 
 

"The only thing we really have to work at in this life

is how to manifest love."

~George Harrison

In this photo are three friends- two from Quebec and one from France.
Met on the Camino, they are jewels in my heart forever.

H/T to Mighty Ambivalent Catholic blog for quote, in a thought-provoking post

Pilgrims on a journey

  Ultreia Gîte, Moissac:- Hosts: Rom and Aideen

"We are pilgrims on a journey
We are brothers on the road
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load

I will weep when you are weeping
When you laugh I'll laugh with you
I will share your joy and sorrow
Till we've seen this journey through"

~from "the servant song"

by Richard Gillard

Rom and Aideen have moved from their homeland of Ireland

to serve the needs of pilgrims on the route to Compostela.

This gîte is their home

where they offer warm hospitality

and genuine care for pilgrims. 

I count them as friends, and hope to return to visit them one day.

There are several moving verses in this song,
but I chose the one about laughter and tears 
as they are two things I think most pilgrims come to know well....

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.

"What about the God bit?"

Three Camino friends from Halifax, in the parish albergue at Granon

"Whilst the Camino to Santiago is essentially a Catholic pilgrimage
to the shrine said to contain the bones of one of the apostles
another thing I discovered is that there is no right or wrong way to travel the Camino to Santiago.
It isn’t just for holy people, or those who go to Church or people of faith.
It is for everyone.
But is it a spiritual experience? “What about the God bit?”

Over the last few days as I’ve thought about that question
and how to answer people who ask it,
I’ve been drawn to notes on my real experiences of pilgrimage.
They describe for me real encounters
with kindness, love, tolerance, respect, understanding.
Maybe they are the "God bit”?"

~From the blog: Camino to Santiago de Compostela
by Johnnie Walker