Day 101a: How to rest while Walking … (July 24, 2019)
Despite my intense desires to get back out onto The Road (I was, after all, ever so close to one of my Walk’s primary objectives – the coast of Spain), Sybille had invited me to stay an extra day and help her out with a few things, and it was an extremely easy decision to say Yes to the same … Task #01 on this day turned out to be a relaxing early morning re-charge of writing and reading while waiting for Sybille to awaken – with both the former & the latter being in my pilgrimage journal. As morning broke more fully, it somehow felt Right to take the short stroll to Santiago’s central plaza to see if I could witness any of my Walk’s recent pilgrim-Friends entering town, and yet not a single one of them emerged from the morning’s mists (which made sense in retrospect, seeing has how my advanced tempo had outpaced most of them by many days). What did emerge at that time was an overwhelming sense of Peace – a wholehearted Knowing that it is enough for both my internal Soul and my external “God” (which I believe to be essentially one & the same essence, an energetic Wholeness only seemingly separated by the thinnest of veils that is my fleshly body) to remember the GOOD I am doing, the GOOD I have done, and the GOOD this Walk will continue to do. And so it was that I looked once more upon the nearby throng of beaming faces – pilgrims who were strangers to me, yes, and yet pilgrims who were all just as worthy of my love & admiration. And so it was that I smiled upon them all as I shrugged my shoulders and headed back to Sybille’s place. And so it was that I sat in peaceful reverie while scanning the wisdoms in a tome written by John Rafferty (a book which happened to include the image below; an image of a stained-glass window that to this day adorns one of my very favorite Camino hostels) …
“Yes, I am indeed building a Road in the Wilderness; forging a bold new path through the wilds.” ~ Isaiah 43:18-19
“Haz bien y no Mires a quien!” (Do GOOD to all alike!)
“Lead me, kindly Light, amidst the encircling gloom … Lead thou me onward. The night is so dark, and I am so far from home … Lead thou me onward. Keep thou steady my feet; I do not ask to one day arrive and see that distant scene. It is in truth more than enough, to take this single step.” ~ via John Henry Newman
“Each one of you has received a special Grace [of unique gifts to give] … So embrace them all, and put yourself Joy-fully into the service of & for others.” ~ 1 Peter 4:10
“And this is all the LORD asks: that you act justly, that you Love tenderly, and that you thereby walk each day humbly with your God.” ~ Micah 6:8
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