I started to follow the posted signs up a thin & winding pathway up towards the hostel on the hill when a passing cyclist yelled loudly for me to stop and head up a neighboring roadway instead. I wasn’t “in the middle of nowhere” here, and yet this particular part of the Way was unusually devoid of both residents & travelers, so the “seemingly out of thin air” arrival of the aforementioned “angel” was most odd indeed – somehow feeling more than a bit beyond the standard coincidence. As such, it was not difficult for me at all to then smile and shrug my shoulders and heed his advice without much thought or wonderment. “Just another slice of Camino magic”, I thought, and I veered slowly to my left and walked up the longer-yet-smoother way to the hostel’s front door. It turned out that this particular aubergue was not only officially affiliated with a 13^th century, St. Stephen sanctified abbey (where a handful of nuns still resided to that very day), but was also literally architecturally connected to the abbey’s 13^th century church as well. I entered the open doorway and hospitalero couple Pedro & Carmin heard the tale of my Walk and accepted me into the hostel without hesitation, whereafter I reveled in yet another blessedly warm shower, Pedro’s offer of several small handfuls of mixed nuts, and then some peaceful reverie in the hostels’ lovely garden courtyard …

“Any truly godly home must be a foretaste of Heaven. In real truth, our homes, imperfect as they are, must be intentional havens from the chaos outside. They should be calm reflections of our eternal Home – places where troubled souls can easily find peace, where weary hearts can easily find rest, where hungry bodies can readily find refreshment, where lonely pilgrims can readily find communion, and where wounded spirits can fluidly find compassion.” ~ via Jani Ortlund

Filed under: Peace Pilgrimage #02: Walking HOME (2019) by Scaughdt