I kept walking through this oppressively hot, dry day — up & Up & UP, past the tiny hamlet of Les Mathieux (near the village of La Roziere) and into the upper outskirts of the town of Labastide-Marnhac. I was pretty worn out and getting pretty dizzy by this point, so I stopped without hesitation at the very first house I saw to my left — a house owned by a kind man names Christophe; a kind man who took me into his home, sat me down in the blessed shade, and gave me numerous glasses of ice water (and a great deal of gentle encouragement) while enthusiastically listening to the tale of my Walk … 🙂

Thereafter I made it into Labastide proper, only to find the town relatively deserted and the intriguing local church (unusually) closed.

Fortunately, I followed the sounds of a nearby television to the Gite of Patrice, who was sitting peacefully and watching a game of rugby. He was surprised to see me at that hour (it was too early for most pilgrims to be checking in anywhere and it was too hot for most pilgrims to be walking during the very middle of the day), and yet he earnestly listened to the tale of my Walk anyway, and then offered me a cold beer and an invitation to sit awhile and watch the match with him … 😀

“Offering strangers sanctuary is a deeply revolutionary act. It expresses Love while others are offering scorn or indifference, and it recognizes the other’s humanity while others are seeking to debase or belittle the same. Sanctuary says ‘us’ instead of ‘I’ and ‘we’ instead of ‘me.’ It is the active form of belonging — the cornerstone of real Peace and the very essence of vibrant community.” ~ inspired by Diane Kalen-Sukra

Filed under: Peace Pilgrimage #02: Walking HOME (2019) by Scaughdt