We had a couple of hard days but we are still walking. Yesterday we crossed the mountains into green and beautiful Galicia (Ga-LEE-thee-ah). All this Irish-looking green–you know what that means. Even as I type, our laundry is tumbling in the overpriced secador. Keep reading
(Leon, Spain: 8250 walking-around steps)
Acts 9:1-19a
v. 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.
Today I went in the cathedral, wrapped in stained glass and bathed in rich afternoon light. An adjacent museum contained treasure after ecclesiastical treasure–paintings, statues carved from wood and stone, manuscripts, gold and silver items, stone from the cathedral, jewelry, a piece of fabric from the seventh century, a delicately written and decorated thousand-year-old enigmatic hymnbook full of notes without a key signature. Common themes in all the art, of course, were the birth and death of Jesus. I passed a display of crucifixes–Jesus’ death again and again. Betrayed in the altarpieces, tortured in the paintings, crucified in the statues, over and over, here in Leon and all around the world–there must be enough representations for every person who ever believed, and every trespass we have all committed. On the cross he felt the sting of every sin as he suffered the righteous wrath of God on our behalf. Thank you, Jesus, for the cross!
….See all your sins on Jesus laid: The Lamb of God was slain,
….His soul was once an offering made for every soul of man. (Charles Wesley)
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Enough of the albergue culture–the enforced bedtime business and getting kicked out the door in the dark of the morning. Keep reading
View of Leon as we came down from the hills
(Reliegos to Leon: 24.3 km, 7 hours [not counting festivities] with 1 hr & 40 min breaks; 33,786 steps, plus 1500 later)
Luke 24:13-33
v. 15-16 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.
Does Jesus walk along with us? I hoped he would. I ask him to. Sometimes I imagine him right next to me but when I look I only see the blue sky. Lord Jesus, open our eyes so we might see you better, in whatever way you appear to us.
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No breakfast was available, as the bar that ran the albergue didn’t open this early. A sign on our door warned against eating in the room (as well as informed us we needed to practice good hygiene) so we took our juice boxes, yogurt and bananas out into the dark morning chill of the patio. A bowl of figs sat on the table for hungry pilgrims, so I rinsed some off and packed them for later. Keep reading
(Sahagun to Reliegos: 30.8 km, 8 hours with 1 hr & 55 min breaks; 40,530 steps, plus 2240 later)
Luke 15:11-31
v. 20b “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
Shortly into our walk today we discovered we had miscalculated the milage. Instead of 23.9 kilometers to our planned stop it was closer to 31, a distance we never intended to walk in one day. And it wasn’t like we could stop sooner because we’d already sent our packs ahead to the selected town. Whoops. This would be a long walk, and on still-blistered feet. “We can do this,” we said to each other confidently. “We can do this.” Like prodigals returning from a far country we set off, praying that the Father would see us from “a long way off” and with compassion strengthen us all the way in. And he did. With his gifts of grapes, potato chips, a perfect picnic spot, a ripe peach, we walked through all those kilometers and were home before we knew it. Thank you, Lord, for your great compassion for your wandering children. Thank you for meeting us right where we need it.
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We ate breakfast in our room, yogurt and juice boxes from the grocery store and delicious pastries I bought yesterday made by the bakery lady’s sister–pastry squares with the sides folded in to contain the custard and fruit. At 8:10 we posed by yet another sign saying it was the center of the Camino.
Morning in Calzadilla
(Calzadilla de la Cueza to Sahagun: 22.5 km, 6 3/4 hours with 1.7 hours breaks; 32,179 steps, plus 5260 later)
Luke 10:1-12
v. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
Jesus had a mission for his disciples and instructions for how to go about it. Two things he said were: Travel light. Don’t get distracted by other offers along the way. These are good rules for us too. Everything you put in your pack weighs something and you have to carry it. Are you sure you need it? Even now we have a few more things we might send to Chris. And the artistic treasures along the way are a distraction to me. If we just stayed until this opens again, if we walked another kilometer or two over that way…. Maurice wisely tells me that if we look at everything we will never get to Santiago. Maybe that’s one reason Jesus sent his disciples two by two (v. 1): When one was tempted to go off track, the other could bring him back. This is wisdom for the rest of life too. Lord, show us what it means to travel light in life. Keep us from distractions that would compromise our mission.
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We were up by six, ate the tiny breakfast we had bought at a grocery store and left town by eight, last except for the South Korean men, one of whose poles were missing. I was back to wearing my old left shoe again; it’s a little tighter on the toes but the heel seems to be a better fit. The shoes are so dusty it is not immediately apparent they don’t match. The German guy from last night who didn’t approve of pack transport was just ahead of us; he had stayed in a private room above the restaurant. Pack transport, private room–we all have our own rules (and we’ll take some of each from time to time). It was 46 degrees but we were cozy in our gloves and new fleece pullovers. My knees were cold, though, taking me back to junior high days of miniskirts and knee-highs when we worried that extra insulation would develop around our exposed joints and we would have fat knees. We were on a nice path through a little gap; the surrounding horizon of purple, pink and yellow faded by the minute. Keep reading
(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.
(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.
(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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