Day 077t: My next hostel Holdover … (June 30, 2019)
Jean Marc had begged me to let him pay for yet another hostel stay here in St. Jean, and I had almost reluctantly agreed, on the sole condition that this would be the very last time he would be allowed to do so. After all, the true power of any peace pilgrimage comes from walking without any safety net whatsoever – without any longer-term patron providing shelter & sustenance along the way. In addition, the greatest gift the peace pilgrim has to give those with whom he comes into contact is the opportunity to rediscover the enormous Joy that comes from truly selfless generosity – the enormous Joy that comes to all those who give food or shelter to the peace pilgrim, who cannot in any way repay them for said kindness … That said, I did thank Jean Marc profusely for his latest (and last) act of giving, and we both settled smoothly into my final French sanctuary – La Vita & Belle, a hostel run by Patricia & Franck (the latter of whom pictured below). Except for Jean Marc & myself, the rest of the pilgrims present* would be starting their pilgrimages the next day, and the excitement of the same bubbled over into a truly delightful evening meal …
“Walking will always be to one’s spiritual benefit – that is, as long as one does not warp his Soul by merely walking for no object but to either exercise or to arrive. Walk to appreciate the glorious beauty of Nature – or to fully commune with the same – or to serve those one meets along the way – and one will very soon find how consonant is walking with one’s deepest being. The chief proof of this truth, of course, is the way in which one who walks in this reverent way fluidly becomes the cousin or the sibling or the Soulmate of every sentient being he or she encounters along the way.” ~ inspired by Hilaire Belloc
*an international cornucopia of travelers – one from Hungary, one from Belgium, two German Hungarian sisters, a couple from Italy, one from Spain, two German Croatians, three from France, and myself – a citizen of the world … 🙂
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