Day 065b: Rescued by Rachel … (06/18/2019)
Even though I had veered off the Camino yesterday to make it my monastic stay-over, it turned out that an alternate return-route back to The Way had already been established and signposted. Baptiste told me about the same and showed me where to find its trail-head (a gift that allowed me to avoid the drudgery of walking several kilometers back the way I had already come) and it was quite easy to follow the path’s well-marked way – at least for awhile …
For it didn’t take too long to come face-to-face with a fellow pilgrim – a wonderfully jovial woman named Rachel – walking in the opposite direction; heading back the way I had just come. Intrigued, I asked what had inspired her to walk the Camino “backwards” (namely, away from Santiago instead of towards it), and she responded with a puzzled glance, a pause, and the following: “Ummm, but I am walking towards Santiago.”
That’s right, my friends. Several minutes before Rachel saved the day I had indeed taking a wrong turn and was at that very moment actually walking back towards Lascabanes, NOT onward towards Santiago at all … :O
No matter, of course. These kinds of mistakes are made by us all in all the walks of our lives, and how fortunate we all are to have our respective “Rachels” so often arrive at just the right time to help guide us on back onto paths purer and trails more true … 😀
“Indeed it runs through all our folklore, all our religions, and all our literature – the simple racial conviction that when another being is struggling and needs rescue, those nearby should never count the price.” ~ via Robert A. Heinlein
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