Day 105j: To pass Hell by & by .. (July 28, 2019)
And then it was that I entered the town of Muxia – and was immediately met with a wave of frigidity and a profound sense of disappointment. In Muxia’s defense, it was unfair of me to have heard of its “magical” nature from other pilgrims and expect its architecture & its vibe to resemble that of Ocebreiro. And yet that is what I did – and that was admittedly the initial source of my sadness. And yet there was something else afoot in this place – a kind of coldness of heart and acuity of materialism that I hadn’t felt in many other locales along The Way. In truth, when walking amongst the wealthy & the well-dressed I saw there that day, my thoughts hearkened first & foremost to Miami Beach – and not in the best of ways … And so it was that I knew this place was not where I would rest that night, much less pause for any rest or repast, and onward I plodded into the day …
“What is Hell? I maintain that it is any place where residents have forgotten how to Love … And indeed, there are two primary choices available to anyone who finds himself walking through Hell – either act like he owns the place or keep on walking. Of course, it is the Noble Man who chooses to embody them both at the same time – by walking smilingly onward while caring for all those fellow damned he passes by … In this way we should all remember that it is in cowardice that we are each our own devil, and that it is in greed that we forge our world into Hell.” ~ inspired by Fyodor Dostoevsky & Oscar Wilde
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