The church at Argagnon was closed when I passed by, and yet there was something about it that borough me some solace even though I was not allowed entrance … “The person with a solely secular mentality tends to feel himself to be the center of the Universe. And as such, he is likely to […]
I thereafter made it into and through the town of Maslacq (where the Path unusually flowed away from the local church, not towards or past it) and felt almost compelled to stop and rest on a bench on the village outskirts. A sort of involuntary depression washed over me here – an odd sense of […]
“Pilgrims are adventurers all. They know not when they set out what the results of their day’s walk will be; yet it is a strange experience, is it not, that such bountiful gifts and refreshing fruits always come to them – at the very least an inadvertent mood of tranquil meditation, out of which arises […]
The Path was seemingly smooth thereafter, and I easily flowed down into the lovely village of Sauvelade, where the local church (part of a beautifully restored 12th Century Abby) provided my next dose of what I like to call Seeker’s Solace – the profound peace that comes to those who consciously pause and set aside […]
And it was here in Sauvelade, just past the church itself, that I was blessed to meet Jean Marc; a gentle pilgrim who was inspired to ask about my Walk after having seen my smock, a kind pilgrim who said that he had been looking for fellow pilgrims to serve along The Way, and as […]
Jean Marc had flowed on ahead of me while I got some fresh drinking water and rested a bit, and yet I hadn’t walked very far thereafter (I wasn’t even fully out of Sauvelade proper) when I saw him coming out of a local “hippy bar” on the side of the Way. He laughed when […]
Interestingly, just after being offered a potential place at a Navarrenx hostel called “The Alchemist”, I saw this quite from the famed Camino graffiti artist of the same moniker … “Obstacles are offered so that you might choose to overcome them.” ~ The Alchemist
And then I was blessed by the next donativo rest-stop; this one a relatively elaborate affair, with the standard offerings of free fruit and soothing beverages, to be sure, and yet also with the gifts of soothing shade, a comfy sofa, and uplifting inspirational quotes posted all around … As I was writing my usual […]
“There are three keys for any & every journey to become a true Success: Humility (what you have to learn), Wisdom (what you have to share), and Love (what you have to give). Don’t ever depart without any of them. They will ever enrich you all the way, and they will ever bless all those […]
“Purpose is never that far my child. Indeed, it’s only a journey’s walk. It is the One at the start of the journey, it is the ONE at the end of the journey, and it is the journey itself. In truth, when you thirst, do you not drink? And when you are cool, do you […]
And then I came upon yet another lovely rest-stop, one dedicated to John 4’s deeply symbolic telling of Jesus’ well-side encounter with a Samaritan woman – a passage that conservative Christians to this day quite incorrectly use to support their contention that they and they alone are “the saved” ones (that the only ones worthy […]
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