Day 14d: Receiving what is Given … (04/28/2019)
I made good time today despite my aching feet (in large part due to the impromptu companionship of fellow walker Patricia, with whom I walked for many miles and with whom I shared some lovely and quite meaningful conversation about literally everything of true & current importance — from the futility of party politics to the necessity of building self-sustainable community to the dry non-Jesusian judgments of Christian dogma to the global crises of ethics and climate that can only be resolved by a massive move towards veganism) and rolled into Mullheim around 3pm. It had been an especially tiring trek to that point, and so I resolved to rest in town awhile, and maybe even stay the night. I first checked the parish offices of the local Catholic church, which were already closed for the day, and then intuitively asked at the promisingly named “Gasthaus Engel” (The Angel Inn) across the street if they happened to have any rooms available for pilgrims (seeing as how Mullheim was and still remains a major pilgrim crossroads along the Germanic Camino de Santiago). After being politely rebuffed by the Inn’s staff, I returned to the church proper to rest therein, and was blessed not only by its peaceful ambience, but also a desk right in the middle of the sanctuary ( :O ) … And so it was that I sat there for a time and wrote in thankful reverence while a passing rainstorm proceeded to deeply cleanse both the dusty town outside and my tired Soul within.
“Go for broke, my friends. Always strive to do far more than is seemingly required. Dispense with all your safety nets and make repeated leaps into the unknown. Yes, it is always wise to take a deep breath before you begin talking, and yet aim for the heart whenever you do so. And beyond all, keep grinning. Have the guts and the moxie to argue boldly with the world’s fools and despots, and never ever forget that writing is as close as we get to keeping a hold on the thousand and one things — on childhood, on certainties, on doubts, on dreams. Far more importantly, of course, always remember that kindness is as close as we can ever get to knowing what it means to be truly alive.” ~ inspired by Salman Rushdie
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