Day 064f: Making a Cahorsian Connection … (06/17/2019)
Way back in Le Puy I had been told by hospitalero Pierre Alain that I should look up his buddy Mahdi whenever I got to Cahors, and I had intended to do so first thing once I arrived. And yet Mahdi’s pilgrim outfitter shop was closed until 11am, so I proceeded to head into Cahors proper to see what I could see. I hadn’t walked but a few hundred yards down the city’s main thoroughfare when I saw what looked to be a family of pilgrims – mother, father, and son. Well, they happened to notice me at about the same time and we started up a short but wonderful conversation about our respective pilgrimages. It turned out that they had just completed theirs (Cahors was their end destination) and were just about to check into their hotel before returning home the next day. Before we parted ways, Maria (pictured) – who was especially appreciative of both the nature and mission of my Walk, offered to buy me a cup of coffee and what turned out to be the most delicious bread I ate on my entire Journey … 😀
“We have become disconnected from our true selves, and naturally, this has produced a deep-seated sense of lack in our lives; causing us to endlessly (and futilely) search for happiness in objects, comfort in experiences, and security in relationships – all to fill the profound emptiness within us and somehow make us feel whole again. Over & over & over again we crave and seek to possess physical pleasures, material riches, and stimulating experiences – anything to distract us from this inherent lack of meaningful Connection in our lives. And yet no matter how hard we try to escape it, eventually the emptiness returns. And that is because we are looking for the answer to our freedom in all the wrong places. We are looking for solace in things, rather than in interactions with others. We are looking for our own salvation, instead of seeking to bring Peace & Joy to those nearby. Until we heal the root cause of our suffering – that being, our focus on ‘me’ over ‘we’ – our incessant sense of confusion will continue to manifest itself both in the world around us and in our hearts within.” ~ inspired by Joseph P. Kauffman
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