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

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.

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.

Solitary Walking

 arrow someone has made in stone at a crossroads in routes

heading for Astorga on the beautiful, less-peopled 'countryside' option from Hospital de Orbigo

"How many of us are completely at ease with our own thoughts, 
comfortably at home in our own minds and bodies?
I know I'm not always in this ideal state. 
Far from it. 
So solitary walking gives me the chance to explore a little 
the murky depths of my own mind, 
to clear some weeds from the muddy pool of my unconscious, 
to sort out my ideas and beliefs, 
to shine a little light into my soul, 
to reflect on God and the nature of life, death and the universe. 
And, with luck, to meet up with some interesting people, 
and enjoy a few beers with them along the Way..."

~Robert

on his Solitary Walker blog

Robert has many reflections on walking you might want to check out,

as well as accounts of the varied walking journeys he has made.

Flowers of the Camino

 

Flowers seen beside the path nearing San Martin del Camino, 

after a long hot day's walk, mostly near highway, out of Leon.

“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”

 

—Henri Matisse

 Quote found on 'Picturing God' website

On my last night in Santiago I had a very special conversation 

with a Frenchman I had met a few times along the Camino.

He had always struck me as a prayerful, reflective man, full of wisdom,

who thought a lot about others. 

(I was surprised though to find him on the altar of the Cathedral in Santiago as a deacon!)

In our last conversation

he told me that I was 'une fleur du camino'

-a flower of the Camino. 

But he also gently said that a flower sometimes has to die to make a seed.

His words and his love have always remained within me.

A Long Walk

 Countryside near Saugues on the Le Puy route

"What on earth has happened to me 
in these 5 years since my first Camino? 

Then I simply decided to go for a long walk 

but of course I discovered as we all do 
that as well as the physical act of walking 

which is deeply meditative, 

the simplicity of the way of life, 

the friendship of strangers 

and the beauty of the countryside 

are actually a powerful spiritual brew."

~Johnnie Walker

Pilgrimage and Church

 Church in the village of Gaillac, as seen soon after leaving Cajarc

"Above all I suppose the experience opens my mind to God 

in ways which Church never does. 

Increasingly I’ve become bothered again by aspects of Church: 

by the lack of caring, the focus on power, 

the marginalisation of women inevitable in a male dominated organisation 

and the pompous self regard of many leaders. 

Now I find these feelings fading and taking on a new perspective. 

When I rage about it I want to take them all, Pope included, on pilgrimage. 

I realise I can only take myself."

~Johnnie Walker

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 

Let your God look upon you

 Between Pech Ibert and Cajarc

"Be silent.

Be still.

Wait before your God.

Say nothing.

Ask nothing.

Be still.

Let your God look upon you.

That is all."

~Edwina Gateley

H/T Concord Pastor

Peace on the road

On the road to Los Arcos

"I'm not sure where I'm going.

Can't you give me a sign?

What's that? Peace? Why, yes, Lord.

This road is full of peace. It hangs in the air.

It's everywhere. You mean that's it?

Peace is the sign I'm on the right road?"

~in "Psalms for the Road"

by Joy Cowley

a New Zealand writer

Actually, the afternoon of the day I walked to Los Arcos,

the road on which this beautiful photo was taken,

turned out to be a 'hard day'.

For no apparent reason I felt despondent

as if I was 'lost' on the winding road

that held no signs of any village or farmhouse,

as if I would never arrive to sanctuary that afternoon.

Maybe part of the reason was simply that I was dehydrated.

But when I arrived, I was 'nurtured'

by a wonderful group of Irishmen who shared dinner with me,

and a gentle massage therapist who worked wonders on my legs and ankles.

I felt despondent, and some simple kindnesses worked wonders.

Thanks to my angels.

you are precious to my eyes

Cloister at Los Arcos

"....Vanier learned to befriend weakness not just in others but in himself.
'Let's stop running away from ourselves and from the deepest parts of our beings,'
he encouraged people on retreat.
'Let us simply stop and start listening to our own hearts.
There we will touch a lot of pain.
We will possibly touch a lot of anger.
We will possibly touch a lot of loneliness and anguish.
Then we will hear something deeper.
We will hear the voice of Jesus;
we will hear the voice of God.
'I love you. You are precious to my eyes and I love you.' "

~ From America Magazine: Jean Vanier's Gift for Living
By Carolyn Whitney-Brown, December 22, 2008

Walking from Le Puy, for the first three weeks I mostly walked alone,
lots of time to think and reflect.
I cannot now be sure, whether it was during those weeks or later on,
but the phrase "you are precious to my eyes and I love you"
took hold of me several times, very deeply
and there was a certainty about it.
I am a very lapsed Catholic,
but at those times I knew, completely, I was enveloped in Love.

Simplicity

Heading for Camping Pech Ibert

"I’m now aware that what draws me back to pilgrimage time after time
is the simplicity of the pilgrim’s life.
We get up each day, pack the same few things into the same rucksack
and set off following a well waymarked path.
We have time to think, to pray, to reflect.
Our needs are simply food and a bed."

~Johnnie Walker
on `The Simple Life'


My first few weeks out of Le Puy were at times lonely
but they were precious days indeed
as I had time to reflect on my life.

My feet kept walking on the land, finding their rhythm
and as the kilometres stretched out ahead
there was no hiding from some conversations
with God or myself
about things past and present.