Day 088b: Now more Right with the world … (July 11, 2019)
I spent most of the early afternoon sitting at one of the hostel’s cafe tables directly alongside The Way, and as a consequence was able to see – and call out to, and warmly greet – a number of my previous pilgrimage compatriots. The three ladies from London (Laura, Frances, and Louise), traveling mendicants Victor & Eva, a few pilgrims I had met back in Puente la Reina, the Japanese couple I had met back at San Bol, the lovely pilgrim who I had met outside Burgos (and who had taught me how to say “Have a nice day” in Spanish), and the two pilgrims from Ireland whose kindness along the heat-blasted path near San Juan de Ortega had helped me make it into Ages all flowed by and were all well & joyously re-met. And yet by far the most wonderful of these reunions was the one I shared with Ferdinand from France. There was some far-more-special bond between us that I had felt when we had first met yesterday at that lovely wayside oasis a bit past the town of Rabe de las Culzadas, and I remember feeling a spontaneous and deep-seated sense of regret at not having honored our meeting more fully – at not having lingered a bit longer in his presence, and at not having at the very least wished him a hugged & heartfelt farewell. And yet here was one day later, as happy to see me as I was to see him. And we were able to share that heartfelt hug after all, and all seemed a bit more Right with the world as a consequence …
“In truth, man was born for togetherness, and however little he might be attached to the world, he can never wholly forget his fellow man, nor bear to be wholly disengaged from the same. Understandably disgusted at the shameful selfishness of Mankind, the misanthrope flees from it; resolving to become a hermit, and often burying himself in the nooks or caverns of some local gloomy rock. As long as disappointment fills his mind, he will feel contented with his situation. And yet when his passions begin to cool – as cool they always will, peace is no longer his companion. No longer sustained by the violence of his disgust, he begins to long for interconnection once more, and his life is then filled with ennui and weariness. The love for his fellow man revives fully in his bosom, and he pants to return to that world which he has abandoned. Nature does not lose her charms in his eyes, of course, and yet instead of longing to hide therein, he desire to share Her wonders with others, and thereby possibly to inspire in them an alteration of their fear-driven, greed-laced ways.” ~ inspired by Matthew G. Lewis
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