Upon entering Leon, I get a little dose of humor — possibly because I hit some sort of emotional “wall” near the end of this day; one of those “everything is meaningless”, doubt-steeped crises of faith that comes to every pilgrim (and probably every human) at least once while walking their own Way. Mine came here, and I was utterly shattered by it.

After walking a short way past this billboard, I sat down in a park and slipped into a deep, dark funk; not really even knowing why. My ego just kept whispering that my whole life was pointless; that no one was listening to what I had to share, and that I was wasting my and everyone else’s time … Ouch!

Then, a miracle happened (though it might not seem like a miracle to you, a miracle it remains) — a group of younger pilgrims came by me, sat down next to me, and gave me the last of their food while offering a few gentle words of encouragement.

Their kindness was more than I could bear, and as they walked away the “dam broke” and I wept deeply — not out of depression, mind you, but simply because I had received the very selfless kindness from them which I have been championing with others — and I was allowed to experience firsthand just how Power-full and Meaning-full that LOVE really is!

Purpose washed back over me, I dried my eyes gratefully, and I headed onward towards the main hostel.

“When you have completed 95 percent of your journey, you are only halfway there.” ~ Japanese proverb

Filed under: Walking The Way (Camino de Santiago - 2008) by Scaughdt