And onward I walked into the blazing day, past some scrawled pathside graffiti first stating that “Jesus didn’t start walking in Sarria” and then claiming that “Jesus knows if you take a taxi.”* Funnily enough (I later thought), Jesus actually didn’t “start walking” from anywhere – and he sure as Hell wouldn’t give a damn […]
“And in that space of peaceful serenity, I finally came to understand that Home is wherever our Heart feels truly free; a full & fierce immersion into any Here&Now – an immersion that makes said place fully removed from any physical barriers or mental constraints. Home as such is a space where we feel most […]
I meet with with fellow pilgrims Linda & David a few kilometers outside the city of Portmarin and a very intriguing conversation ensues (mostly engaged by Linda, and mostly listened to by David). It seemed that Linda happened to be a “Zone 2 aficionado” (i.e. any person, sometimes affixed with the “New Age” title, who […]
“Intellect is an essential part of any functional faith. For while the heart provides intuitive direction, it is the intellect that lights the most fluid path thereto. And so it is that we must ever set them both into motion simultaneously, while setting ourselves into motion as well” ~ inspired by Tariq Ramadan “The time […]
It was “only” a supposed 8 kilometers from Portmarin to the village of Gonzar (where I thought I might be able to find refuge for the night), and yet the Camino was having none of the same. Maybe it was the heat and maybe it was the fatigue and maybe it was hope and maybe […]
After the Gonzar “fail”, I wasn’t planning on stopping until the village of Ventas (another 3+ miles), and yet in the little hamlet of Castromaior I came across fellow pilgrim Paul (who I had first met back in Orbigo one week prior) sitting on a the porch of a pathside private hostel. He encouraged me […]
I woke this day quite early (as usual) after an average night’s rest, dressed & packed up quite quietly (also as usual) after a small stint of writing, took another Ibuprofen pill for my hurting back (not so usual) after I found it difficult to stand, and then slowly ambled out into the cool morning […]
I made it smoothly enough to & into & through the tiny village of Hospital de la Cruz and then onward to the town of Ventas de Naron, where the locked doors of its tiny pathside chapel were emblazoned with three symbols* that shared all that its inner sanctuary could ever hope to tell … […]
“Many people know that pilgrimage is not about distances covered or destinations achieved, and yet what most folks don’t understand is that pilgrimage is not about slowness of tempo either. In truth, it doesn’t matter that you walk slowly as a pilgrim – it only matters that you walk just slowly enough to be fully […]
On more than one previous occasion on my Walk I had heard wondrous stories about the kindness exuded at the Fuente del Peregrino (The Pilgrim’s Fountain) hostel in the town of Ligonde, and the initial vibe upon finally arriving there certainly didn’t disappoint … “The story of being Here is always greater than the story […]
I had been sitting outside the hostel for only a short while when Nicole, a recent hospitalera there, came out and struck up a quite lively conversation with me – one centered around the stark & fundamental differences between literally walking the Way of Jesus Christ (i.e. my personal take on his teachings; essentially, that […]
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