Day 081r: The Brilliance of the Black Pearl … (July 04, 2019)
It turned out that Mate had stayed in Azqueta at quite the remarkable hostel the last time he himself had walked the Camino, and that is precisely where he led me upon entering that town. The locale was called The Black Pearl* and it proved to as much a rarity as its namesake, for rarely indeed have I ever known such gentle warmth and sincere kindness on any of my travels before or since. Helena, the proprietress of the establishment, looked befuddled (and admittedly less than pleased) when she first heard about the hows and the whys of my Walk, and yet she accepted me into her hostel without any hesitation thereafter, and treated me like a deeply honored guest for the entirety of my stay. And the same exuberant kindness she displayed towards me was felt from all the other pilgrims present that evening as well – not only Mate from Hungary, but Edward from Australia, Thomas from Sweden, Jasmin from Switzerland, Marianna from Poland, Concepcion from Spain, Nina from Germany, & Fiona from Ireland as well … I help Helena & her primary assistant Gloria serve everyone dinner, and then we bonded together – becoming instant Friends in an almost hobbitesque manner – well into the evening.
“The event of falling in love is nothing compared to the actuality of Love itself; an emotional union of such a profound nature that we are right to reject as intolerable the idea that it should be in any way transitory. In one high bound Love – real Love; the Love of vocational Partners &/or true Friends – overleaps the massiveness of any & all selfhood. It makes appetite itself altruistic, tossing personal happiness aside as a mere triviality and planting the interests of the other in the center of our being. Spontaneously and without effort it inspires us to fulfill the highest Law of Being by in-couraging us to quite literally love our neighbors as ourselves – even if those neighbors would otherwise be judged as enemies. This real Love is an image, a foretaste if one will, of what we must become to all if we are to in truth become what we have been called to be – selflessly caring Children of the Divine Himself.” ~ inspired by C.S. Lewis
*If any of you would like to contact &/or support this amazing place, here is the address thereof:
Helena Murugarren
c/o La Perla Negra
Carrera 18
31241 Azqueta
Navarra SPAIN
laperlanegra67@stephensessions
;