(Carrion de los Condes to Calzadilla de la Cueza: 17.3 km, 3 1/2 hours with one short break; 25,400 steps for the day)

Mark 1:35-39
v. 38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”

I had thought about not even going to the pilgrim mass and blessing last night in Carrion de los Condes because I would be late but my heel and I hoofed it through the streets to the pretty little square and into Santa Maria. On my way to communion I noticed Tom the German composer. I was kind of surprised because the previous night he had told me he was having nothing more to do with the church. Yet he came forward for the prayer for the pilgrims and stood in line to receive a personal blessing from the sister. I spoke to him afterward and expressed my surprise. “You told me about the church and I came to try it out,” he responded. Now I was really surprised. “I felt real love here,” he said. Our brief conversation then gave me the chance to say a few things I hadn’t said in the previous village. Nothing changed his mind but he listened carefully; I suspected he might consider our conversation further. Preaching from village to village–that’s what Jesus said he had come to do. Even with my meager witness, is that some little part of why I have come here too? Lord, help me be faithful to proclaim your word in many ways, in any situation.

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It was just me and Maurice for breakfast in the basement dining room–no juice but a bowl of fruit, so we took some along for the road. We wrapped up our blisters, left our packs for pickup and, after putzing around looking for bread, left town at 8:45.

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(Boadilla del Camino to Carrion de los Condes: 25.1 km, 6.25 hours with 1.5 hours breaks; 34,457 steps, plus about 2200 later)

Mark 1:1-13
v. 12-13 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Maurice’s harp wakened us gently at six and we were the first ones up. I gathered my supplies in the dark and headed to the unisex bathroom. There was a bug on my towel. Well, it’s not like there are any screens around. I squashed it with a piece of tp and it was red. I will not panic, I will not panic. I showed it to Maurice. Our early start devolved into dragging all our belongings out into the sitting area, where there was a dim light and we could use the flashlight more easily, and carefully inspecting everything. Almost right away I found another bug crawling on my waist pouch, which had been hanging with my towel at the head of the bunk against the wall. Our French-Canadian roommate Tom was methodically packing up on a nearby chair and looked quizzically at our controlled frenzy. “Bedbugs,” I mouthed. He did not seem alarmed and walked back to the bunks, where Maurice had just spotted another bug on the wall. Tom, apparently expert in many things, did not think it was a bedbug. Indeed, these bugs were bigger than I thought the abominable creatures are. We did not find any more, nor had there been signs of their presence in the bunk room. My bunk was by the window and Maurice wondered if whatever these were had entered that way, crawling right down onto my hanging things. Not exactly wild animals in the wilderness but close enough for me, an unholy trinity of pestilence and gore. Lord God, thank you for moving the bugs right where we could see them and for your attending angels to alert us to the issue. Thank you for your peace.

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We were up at six, the first ones, quietly getting ready until The Incident, which caused enough delay that we were (no surprise) the last ones out at 8:30. Because of the blisters we decided to send the packs again, and I returned my old shoe to my left foot. After a quick breakfast in the cafe we soon were cheered by our lovely path along a canal with yellow morning sunlight peeking in and out of dark clouds. Keep reading

(Castrojeriz to Boadillo del Camino: 19.1 km, 5 1/2 hours with about an hour break; 26,500 steps, plus 1850 later)

Matthew 25:31-46
v. 35-36 ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

There is much looking after the stranger along the Camino. Beyond the reasonably priced albergues and pilgrim meals, the pilgrims look out for one another. Sit here with us. This fountain is dry–do you need water? Will there be room for the slow Japanese lady? I remember my foot care from German and Brazilian women. In today’s walk Maurice developed a blister behind his toes. When I came back from hanging the laundry, the French Canadian in the next bed was listing all the supplies needed and supervising Maurice’s proper blister treatment. Lord, help us to carry the concern shared in this like-minded community back to our more complicated lives in the real world. Help us to give more generously of our means to those around us who are in need.

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We were up at 6:15 and out at eight, but first Maurice fixed us wonderful scrambled eggs and washed the dishes in the cocina honesta. Within a mile or so we had a 1.5 kilometer ascent up a 12% grade, back onto the meseta in the pink morning light; as we sweated I first ripped off my scarf, then rolled up my sleeves, then unbuttoned my outer shirt, then depacked at the top and shoved the extra layers into Maurice’s pack.

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(Hornillos del Camino to Castrojeriz:  20.1 km, 6 hours including 1  1/2 hours in breaks; about 28,500 steps, plus more later)

Matthew 13:1-23
v. 4-8a As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop.

As I walk through the meseta this parable is easy to imagine. The path is hard, dry and dusty and won’t receive any seed. I think birds are kept away by multitudes of pilgrim feet, but we’ve seen some flittering among the brush lining the road and eating seeds from the dead sunflowers. And rocky places? Yesterday from a distance we saw white fields ahead. Had they been sprayed with something? When we got up next to the fields, we saw they had been tilled but the entire surface was covered with white rocks–a crop of rocks! I don’t know how anything at all could grow there. Thorns and weeds line the paths, a thick tangle that keeps anything else from growing. But in other fields that roll toward the horizon are fine crops of wheat and barley. All this soil is like people’s hearts, receiving the Word to different degrees, but the Lord is so bountiful with his word that he scatters it everywhere, all the time. He gives people one chance after another to cultivate the soil of their hearts and receive the good seed, promising a life abundantly richer in eternity than the best we have now.

Field of rocks

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West end of cathedral by the dawn’s early light

On the road again!

(Burgos to Hornillos del Camino: 22 km, 6 1/4 hours–about 30,500 steps plus 2500 later)

Matthew 7:13-14

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Maurice and I talked about this verse on the walk out of Roncesvalles. The path was narrow and rocky and the difficulty was only increased by cyclists who appeared silently behind us, antsy to pass. Such is the road to eternal life, Jesus tells us. Hard. Constricted. But it goes somewhere worth going, and not everyone finds it. Thank you, Jesus, that you walk this road with us. Thank you that you are the road.

Through the park and out of town

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Arriving at the 14th-century Arco de Santa Maria in Burgos yesterday

(Burgos–only 8600 walking-around steps)

Matthew 6:25-34
v. 28a “And why do you worry about clothes?”

I had to laugh when I read this passage today. Last night we discovered Maurice had left our laundry supplies bag in the Belorado albergue. It contained the hand washing powder I had carefully researched and packed, binder clips (more versatile than clothespins), safety pins and, most valuable of all, our lightweight stretchy clothesline (really two lines twisted so you don’t even need clothespins if you run out) with clips on the ends. The clothes we had washed earlier weren’t anywhere near dry and the real hotel we are staying in does not have a clothesline in the bathroom or out the window. In the grand scheme of things the laundry supplies were a minor thing to lose (considering Maurice was ready to walk out of an albergue one morning without his glasses) but I was irritated. “Do not worry,” says Jesus, “saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’” or ‘What shall we hang the clothes on?’ After our trip to the post office we went to the Chinese shop we had found the day before, where the dour owner pointed us to plastic rope and clothespins, only 1.50€. Later Maurice creatively strung it in our hotel room; we trust the clothes will be dry by morning. I am thankful for God’s faithful provision, for his Word that speaks to us where we are and for his gentle rebuke that nudges us back to the narrow road.

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[NOTE:  More pictures added to Day 14]

Pilgrims

(Belorado to Burgos by bus–13,663 steps walking around)

Matthew 5:1-16
v. 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

And there is plenty of underfoot trampling going on, with centuries of pilgrims having walked on these same tracks. I’m glad for the paths. They keep us on the way and they are (usually) smoother than the rough ground around. But once something is tossed down and pressed into the ground by passing feet it is no longer good for its original purpose. God made his people to be salt, to enhance the favor of life and preserve his good gifts for others. I don’t want to fail in what God calls me to do and have my life lost for kingdom purposes. Lord, help me to be salt in the places you put me, even on the pilgrim way.

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(Granon to Belorado: 15.7 km, 4 1/4 hours; about 22,950 steps plus 3500 later)

Matthew 2
v. 10b The star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

This passage has a lot of traveling in it–Joseph in obedience to the Lord, the Magi seeking the King, Herod’s men following orders. At some point, though, everybody halted. The Magi stopped in obedience to the star they were following when it rested over the place where Jesus was. We stopped early today in the quiet little town of Belorado. A church was open and a bench outside beckoned from the shade. Though my heel is much better, my other leg hurts and we had decided not to go far. A sign at the parroquial albergue door just down from the church said it opened at two. It was noon. We pondered what we might do and ended up wandering over to the main square and doing nothing much at all for the next two hours until we could check into the albergue. The bench, the shade, the quiet, the closed door–it was like the star that said just stop here and rest. Lord, may we have ears to hear you and a heart to obey when you tell us to stop moving and just be still.

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San Juan Bautista albergue in Granon (the second story windows were our room)

(Azofra to Granon: 21.9 km, 6 hours; about 30,050 steps plus 3,200 later)

Micah 6:6-8
v. 8 He shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

I am walking more humbly than I used to. Pain will do that to you. At home, getting things done, I don’t suffer fools gladly who dither along the walkway impeding my progress. Here, with my slower pace and occasional limp, I am in the way of the young hard-chargers. “Buen Camino!” they call out cheerily as they pass. They’re not irritated. They share the road willingly. They walk humbly with me. I too need to show mercy and walk humbly with those who are slower than me. Lord, may more patient walking with others help me to walk more humbly with you.

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Maurice said we had another long day ahead and filled out the slips for both packs to be sent again. Keep reading

(Navarrete to Azofra: 23.1 km in 5 hours 50 minutes; 30,456 steps, plus 2200 walking in the evening)

Jeremiah 17:5-9, 13-14
v 7-8a, 14 But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. She will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream….Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.

I still hurt but I am refreshed today. The kilometers went by quickly. The greetings of other pilgrims lifted me up. The prayers of friends at home have reached the Lord on my behalf. I will trust in God for my healing. I will trust in the Lord, the one who has saved me. He is the one I praise!

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Maurice said enough with rearranging the heavy things–we had a long way to go today and he was sending his pack too! Keep reading