Liminal Layover #01a (Santiago): Serving the larger Sanctuary … (August 01, 2019)
Several of the Friends I had already met along The Way had already offered their amazingly heartfelt assistance regarding helping to facilitate the logistics of getting me over the ocean to finish my Walk, and now it appeared that the time to engage the same had arrived. Tom provided tactical assistance regarding me obtaining a replacement passport in Madrid, Sybille arranged for me to get to that great city by bus and once again offered me lodging until said bus would be departing Santiago, and others both near & far set about slowly-yet-surely arranging for a plane ticket from Madrid back to the United States … Unsurprisingly, these various endeavors would all end up taking a bit of time to arrange & solidify, and so it was that I ended up remaining in Santiago for 4+ days and serving the local community in various ways while waiting to leave. One of the first of these aforementioned charities turned out to be giving Sybille “the day off” by joining Brother Alasdair in fulfilling her volunteer duties for the local Ecumenical Chaplaincy via its regular Open House (offering both welcome & assistance to Santiago’s English-speaking pilgrim community) that was located just a small stone’s throw from the Cathedral itself. And this service proved to be simple enough – with me setting out a small bevy of refreshments for the small but steady stream of pilgrims who came by to check in or ask questions, and then providing simple kindness to the same when they did happen to trickle by. It all proved to be a potently humbling experience from start to finish that day, with Alasdair & I serving not only the handful pf pilgrims who did indeed stop in, but also a small group of local home-free artisans who came to sit nearby in the shade …
“What I love most about pilgrimage is how life’s steady stream of strangers continually amaze & inspire. Indeed, every aware day on The Road will bring at least one blossoming surprise, one simple unexpected act of kindness that opens a chink in the brittle shells surrounding all hearts involved; a smallest rent in our collective ego-armor that allows us all to become different & better people when we go to sleep that night – more tender, less jaded, more generous, less timid –than we were the day before.” ~ inspired by Tanya Shaffer
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