I was immersed in wholehearted gratitude as I walked around the San Bol grounds, and yet in truth as I peered through its shuttered windows I did find myself wishing to simply be able to – even if only for a few moments – walk inside. And no sooner did that wish pass through the hallways of my mind than David (an employee of a company that transported pilgrims’ backpacks for them to their next overnight destination) arrived and without hesitation (after hearing of my Walk and my history with San Bol and my humble wish to see inside) opened up and let me in … It wasn’t exactly as I remembered, of course (the sleeping quarters was essentially the same, and yet all the full-bore rusticness had been replaced by an admittedly lovely domed dining room and a check-in desk where the old wood-stove had once been), and yet a similar glow peace still seemed to flow forth from its walls …

“There was a crystal clear, ice-cold spring that flowed from the hermitage grounds. And limping up to its rectangular basin, fully parched of both stomach & Soul, I gently – indeed reverently – placed my hand under its gentle geyser, cupped a small portion of its holy drought therein, and drank in relieved ecstasy from the same. And right there in that moment, alive and awake and refreshed in that tiny and unknown place, I remembered anew that life is not about arriving at grand destinations or honoring already visited places or even maintaining hallowed friendships. No, in that one sacredly sated instant I remembered that life is about things far greater than these – about seeing the friend in every stranger (and acting accordingly); it’s about knowing that every place is equally holy (and acting accordingly); it’s about realizing in every single second we are ever arriving at our life’s most important destination (and, of course, acting accordingly).” ~ inspired by Craig D. Lounsbrough

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