Day 081j: Rediscovering Love in Lorca … (July 04, 2019)
I flowed steadily onward, all the way into the town of Lorca, where the snugly town square offered not only deliciously refreshing fountain of cool water, but an equally revitalizing effusion of camaraderie from fellow pilgrims Mate (from Hungary, with whom if would walk a sizable portion of my Spanish Camino), Julio (from Paraguay, who I would only encounter a handful of times over the coming weeks, and yet from whom would flow incredible expressions of generosity whenever I did so), and Guillermo (from Brazil, who I also saw a number of times sporadically over the coming weeks, and who I never could “read” – half the time he seemed to be in utter awe of my Walk, and the other half he seemed to be almost dismissive of the same) …
“In the mainstream, with its illusion of unlimited relational possibilities, we vainly attempt to counter dissatisfaction in relationships by simply moving on in search of the ‘right’ or ‘better’ people. And yet real community demands that we cultivate friendships with those who we might not choose ordinarily. Founding friendship on unconditional kindness rather than chemistry often requires adjustment. At the end of the day, however, doing so finds that any loss of chemistry in such relationships is more than made up for with enormous gains in both solidarity & meaning.” ~ via Jose Panate-Aceves & John Hayes
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