Hello from Moratinos … (10/11/08)
“After two long-distance Walkings (40km two days ago and then 36+ yesterday), I have arrived just short of Sahagun in the tiny (population 20+) town of Moratinos — And what a Blessing that arrival has been! I started the day flowing easily through the city of Carrion de los Condes, where I paused in what I thought was an empty cathedral to softly allow a whistled “lament of reverence” to echo through its vaulted ceilings. I mySelf was brought to tears by the sheer Beauty of the moment, and turned to leave only to witness an elderly gentleman kneeling in the back pew praying tearfully along with Me. We exchanged a Knowing salutation in silence and went our separate Ways without uttering a sound — Truly a Sacred Moment that I will allWays treasure …
Of course, the Camino — like Life — never provides the Bliss without an accompanying challenge to transcend; a challenge which I intimately engaged on the next 20km of walking through a “wasteland” literally assaulted by hordes of gnats! For the first few km, I laughed them off, assuming that they would be going their merry way. And yet, over the next 12+ miles, they increased in number with almost every step! And it was not only their vast numbers, but their almost insidious desire to fly into my nose, ears and mouth that made the trek a form of torture for all of the pilgrims on this day´s route. I was admittedly “miserable” for much of the journey, though just past its midpoint, I was left with nothing else but to laugh in admiration at the cleverness of my little friends with regards to finding a way into my throat no matter what I did to stop them. And as my laughter increased, my annoyance dissipated. And as my irritation left my mind, I began to be thankful for the small wonders around me: the fact that cloud-cover was saving me from the added burden of the sun´s heat, the fact that I (like all other conscious pilgrims on Life´s Journey) have been given the opportunity to choose how I see uncomfortable situations, the fact that simply my sincere amusement over our shared plight proved to be a powerful service to other pilgrims who were suffering from the gnats´ incessant onslaught more than I was. And then, as the Camino (and Life) is wont to do, once my yearnings for more comfort and less pain were released and replaced with Gratitude, the source of my dis-ease “magically” disappeared as well — and I walked the last 10km gnat-free!
From here on out, I´ll be staying each night whenever my body wants to stop and someone will take me in. And, as I have no more money, I don´t know when I´ll be writing my next entry herein. No worries, of course, as the Camino (like Life) allWays provides for those who choose to courageously Walk in humble selflessness …” ~ Scaughdt
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