“Walking itself often causes a repetitive, spontaneous poetry to rise naturally from the heart to the mind – and sometimes even to the lips; words as simple as the footsteps that thump along the path, and yet simultaneously as pungent as the floral fragrances that often line the road. This deep-seated bonding with the path […]
Hills proved challenging for the majority of my time on The Way – at least from the moment my hip starting sending its searing messages of pain in southern Germany all the way until said discomfort finally dissipated and then disappeared somewhere in western Spain. And even though I was at this point in the […]
It was a long time coming, and yet – after rounding many a bend that seemed only to bend anew and cresting many a hill that only gave glimpse to yet another mini-mountain on the horizon – we finally were allowed to look upon the city of Viana in the distance, and shortly thereafter enter […]
Me not wanting to be any further financial burden on Mate,* and Mate not yet wanting to part ways, meant that we both intentionally headed for Viana’s parochial donativo in the center of town; a rest-stop that in truth provided me & my stated mission with a lukewarm reception at best, and yet a rest-stop […]
Knowing that our time together was approaching its end, I made sure to make Mate his own Peace Stone – both to commemorate our communal walking of The Way and to evince my gratitude for our formed friendship … “It is your friends who will believe in your potential, and it is your enemies who […]
After dinner, we are all invited to a private tour of a nearby local church, where the less-than-humble intentions of the accompanying priest were not nearly as powerful or holy as his service’s “moment of silence” … “There is something in the very depths of our being that yearns for wholeness. And because we are […]
Most understand that thankfulness is not powerful if offered merely when one arrives at a desired destination, nor is thankfulness potent if offered only when one leaves an unpleasant or boring locale. Real thankfulness indeed has nothing at all to do with either escaping the past or attaining the future – most folks get that […]
“As people, in the course of their everyday lives, make their way by foot around a familiar terrain, so its paths, textures and contours are incorporated into their own capacities for movement, awareness and response. And yet conversely, these same pedestrian movements carve a tangled network of personalized trails through the landscape itself. Through walking, […]
“We are above all things always able to love (which is far more important than our longing to be loved) –and that is the actual Good News of the gospel. And we are able to love others not just the way they turn up on Sundays in their best clothes and on their best behavior […]
“Most of our life’s voyages are mere armchair calculations, strategically charted ahead of time in some reclined state, designed to allow us to embark upon some supposedly grand journey without ever actually leaving the armchair. Real journeys, on the other hand – challenge both mind and body. Real journeys demand a facing of fear. Real […]
Mate & I had a number of intriguing discussions while walking together along The Way, and on this day we happened to begin chatting about reincarnation – with Mate hinting that it provided resolution for the frustrating conundrum of mass injustice (i.e. all the selfish folks – most politicians and many preachers among them – […]
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