Day 104a: To LOVE another Day … (July 27, 2019)
Michal (the wonderful young lady who I had first met at Pieros and then again in Logoso just a few days ago) had graciously offered to pay for me to remain in the hostel for an additional day of Rest & Service, and I decided this morning to accept her lovely offer – a gift that allowed me to more deeply interact with the other pilgrims present, and a gift that as such bore much Good Fruit indeed. One of the groups of travelers present was a group of college students from Christopher Newport University (located in Newport News, Virginia) and their philosophy/religion professor Kip Redick. It turned out that Kip brings a small group of his students to Spain every year to walk a portion of the Camino as part of one of his classes, and I just happened to meet up with them in Finisterre on the very last day of this year’s trip. I had not been able to chat with any of them too extensively the night before, and yet at breakfast this morning Kip & several of his students engaged me with a long and relaxed conversation about a number of fascinating topics – the choice to soak in life’s liminalities, on the ability we all have to see the “odd” or “scary” or “ignorant” people in our lives as “liminals” as opposed to “outsiders” or “enemies”, on seeing the totality of space not as a massive void but rather an expansive fullness. Kip also read me a bit of his lovely poetry (see below) and I was able to speak individually as well with Katie and Patrick and Joe before they all offered warm farewell hugs and then packed up and left to head back to the States …
“In the mainstream, with its illusion of unlimited interactive possibilities, we can counter dissatisfaction in relationships by simply moving on in search of others; by continuously questing for ‘the right people.’ But real Community is different It demands that we cultivate friendships with people we might not choose ordinarily. Founding real Friendship in this way – founding it in notions of unconditional regard and acts of unfettered caring rather than ‘good chemistry’ or ‘mutual benefit’ – requires a grand adjustment. And yet at the end of the day, those seeking such unions always find that any apparent loss of ease or harmony in said relations is more than made up for with huge gains in intimacy & meaning.” ~ inspired by Jose Panate-Aceves and John Hayes
“Witness as Heaven breaks upon the Earth in real & heartfelt Friendship – a purest evidence of God’s ever-gentle caress.” ~ inspired by Kip Redick
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