Day 070o: Easily breaking the internal Ice … (June 23, 2019)
I made my way without great incident to Gite Bethanie (the lovely donativo hostel that Cindy had emphatically demanded I visit a few days ago) on the far outskirts of town, and expectations once again proved to be a generator of (in this case only mild*) disappointment — as my reception there was at best luke-warm. I think Marcel, like so many hostel managers before him, was skeptical of my Walk’s veracity, and yet he remained tepid towards me even after seeing my heavily worn shoes and providing me with a roll of duct tape I then used to temporarily mend them. His wife Pauline was slightly more cordial from the start, and explained that Sundays were the one family-day they were able to enjoy each week. She explained that I was welcome to stay, and yet that neither she nor Marcel would be providing any of the typical amenities that most pilgrims come to expect in such places of refuge – though I should feel free to scrounge whatever foodstuffs previous pilgrims might have left behind. It was then that I told her about my Walk (again its How, and again its Why), stated that I expected absolutely nothing from anyone, and affirmed that I was truly overjoyed to have a warm shower and a clean bed. After thoroughly enjoying the former, I sat on the latter and made her & her family a Peace Stone, and her attitude shifted dramatically upon receiving the same. She chatted with me for awhile about my pilgrimage and its message of Radical Kindness (a.k.a. The Way of Christ) and then bid me Goodnight, saying “I think it is really great what you are doing. The world needs more people like you and I will definitely tell others about you and your mission.” And so it was that I ended the day with yet another soft smile upon my lips, as I ate a hearty meal of sea salt & chick peas, read a bit of The Lord of the Rings (an English copy of which I found on the living room’s bookshelf), and headed contentedly to bed …
“Today, like every day, is sacred. For this day will never come again, and the beings you encounter will in all likelihood never again cross your path. And so it that we must oft & ever ask ourselves: What could be more important than living this day and all its moments with both pointed attention and the heartfelt desire to be of benefit, to the best of our ability, to all we are blessed to encounter?” ~ inspired by John Bruna
*Not only had I learned by this point that – as with life in general – nothing on a pilgrimage ever works out exactly as planned or hoped for (and that oftentimes a day’s end results are only a faint reflection of what one’s ego feels it has reasonably “deserved” or “earned”), but I had also learned to be exceedingly thankful for any & all shelter &/or sustenance offered.
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