It was a loooooong hot walk that later afternoon – first to & through the village of Reliegos, and then into the larger and more bustling town of Mansilla de los Mulas. There were dozens of hostels in the latter nestled alongside the Path that ran through the center of town, and all of them seemed to be already filled to the brim with pilgrims who had already stopped there for the night. I stopped into several of these hostels to see if any were sympathetic to my Walk and its selfless cause, and yet none were even remotely interested in the same, so I shrugged my shoulders & smiled and was sauntering onward and out of town when I came to the local Municipal Albergue. Previous experience had shown that these state-run facilities tended to be a bit more amenable to traditional mendicant pilgrims like myself, and so I shrugged my shoulders once more and popped in to give the caregivers there the chance to host me for the night as well. The owner-head hospitalera there was initially less-than-thrilled with my admittedly disheveled arrival, first harshly & hastily dismissing me, then aloofly accepting me (after seeing my hand-written book of The Walk and the many stamps therein from previous hostels who had taken me in and helped me on my Way), and then faux-regretfully rejecting me once more after hearing that I had no personal ID to verify who I was – using the now-patentable “The rules are the rules in Spain” excuse, despite me calmly informing her that more than a few other Spanish Municipals had already joyfully looked the other way for me since I crossed the French-Spanish border some 2 weeks prior. It was clear that her conscience was making things difficult for her in that moment, so I gently told her that I would be fine & earnestly wished her a Wonder-full Life before heading back out onto The Way. There really was no point in continuing to “push the river” and persuade her to do something that she would only truly enjoy doing if she were to do so freely without persuasion. I departed knowing that Good was done in any event, for every sentient soul knows that they can and indeed should Be Kind during every encounter, and choosing to Be Kind to them when they don’t do the same allows them to more readily Be Kind to another the next time around.

“Against delay. Against the way that seems easier &/or more safe. Against refusal of the burden that is laid upon me. Against – well, if it must be said, against trust in the strength and truth and integrity or my fellow men … In truth, in any open and caring fellowship neither judgment nor fear nor greed can exist. In all such interactions the truth is ever its active substance, where a oneness of heart & body is expressed. There is no division where mutual caring for one another is manifested, and where there is no division – even where there is no agreement – Peace will ever abound.” ~ inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien & Henry Hon

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