PilgrimDance

Tuesday May 28, 2019

Pontevedra to Combarra, Spain—Day 13; about 23,300 steps

Proverbs 13

v. 4  A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.  The diligent—is that us?  We press our feet to the ground kilometer after kilometer, daily shortening the distance to Santiago.  An Italian lady I met in the Slow City Hostel yesterday had been walking the Caminho Portugués from Lisbon (!) but had decided the Camino was not for her and was going home—just days from Santiago!  How could she not press on with the goal almost in sight?  Maybe she has fulfilled what she was called to do.  But we seek to diligently keep on to the end.  Our desires are now simple:  cool water, some shade, a reasonable place to rest, a hot meal at the end of the day, the wifi password, our feet to stop hurting, the first sight of the cathedral in Santiago.  “The righteous eat to their hearts’ content,” writes Solomon at the end of the chapter (v. 25), and most of the rest of our desires seem close to fulfillment.  Dear Lord, I look to you for my feet to stop hurting!  And thank you that, no matter our earthly desires, in you I will be fully satisfied forever.

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There is no sound privacy in the hostel’s unisex, one toilet stall, one shower stall, two sink bathroom.  Everyone was out early except us and the Koreans.  The world learns English to get along.  It really is an amazing thing.

Monday May 27, 2019

Pontevedra, Spain—Day 12; 8828 steps

Proverbs 12

v. 14  From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things, and the work of their hands brings them reward.  Maurice worked for 48 years, from the time he graduated from high school until he retired in 2014.  He worked steadily and hard in his paid employment, at home and in the community, providing for his family, encouraging others, keeping promises, honoring the Lord.  He still works in retirement.  “Look at your reward,” I said to him tonight.  “A fine family at home, and Galician cooking and vino tinto on a spring evening in Spain, plus you’re walking the Portuguese Camino!”  He looked skeptical at that last part, but he’s still glad he’s hanging out with me.  Thank you, Lord, for Maurice’s decades of hard work and honest words.  Thank you that I can share his reward with him.

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All the pilgrims were out between six and 9:30 except for us.  I lingered over a bowl of some sort of choco-crunchy cereal from our hostess’ breakfast supplies, plus there was Cola Cao and a bowl of oranges.  Little pleasures, but so delightful.  Maurice went out to paint and scour the streets one more time for the lost hearing aid.  While our hostess’ husband Jorge swept, changed sheets and straightened up for the next batch of pilgrims (and refilled the cereal), I sat in our room’s sunlit quiet to write, wait for my hair to dry and for the laundry to finish in the real washing machine.

Sunday May 26, 2019

Redondela to Pontevedra, Spain—Day 11; 34,217 steps 

Proverbs 11

v. 22  Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.  Europeans have different standards of modesty from Americans.  In the albergues Maurice has already had several unexpected eyefuls before he could avert his eyes.  I don’t think anybody means to flash; it’s just tight quarters with minimal private space.  If we’re out in the open, I sleep with my next day’s clean shirt on and in the morning slip on my shorts before I get out from under the sleeping bag.  Tonight in the quads, with about one meter between the beds, Maurice used our bendy hooks to hang his towel along the side of his bed to avoid surprises from the young ladies in the next bunk.  Delightful young ladies—just don’t want them to be too delightful.  Dear Lord, please keep us pilgrims from being distracted by the world.  Help us fix our eyes on you.

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Don’t give up—there’s more to come:

Chipirones!

The maritime Way of the Cross!

Santiago!

Saturday May 25, 2019

Porriño to Redondela, Spain—Day 10; 26,379 steps

Proverbs 10

v. 1 The proverbs of Solomon:  A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.  I don’t want to omit any of our sons but today we were thinking of Chris.  As we walked near a couple women we had passed back and forth with yesterday, I was chatting with one born in Pennsylvania who now lives in the south of Spain near where Chris used to live—in the town he used to live in, it turned out.  She was a civilian working for the Navy in Rota.  “What’s your son’s name?” she asked.  I told her.  “Krystle!” she shrieked.  She was friends with our daughter-in-law, and had also worked with Chris.  Such a small world. We are proud of Chris, making his way responsibly in the world, working hard, serving his country, leaving good impressions behind.  Lord, we thank you for three fine sons who bring us joy.

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Friday May 24, 2019

Valença, Portugal, to Porriño, Spain—Day 9; 32.627 steps

Thursday May 23, 2019

Rubiaes to Valença, Portugal—Day 8; 31,196 steps

Proverbs 8

v. 22, 26, 30-31 The Lord possessed [wisdom] at the beginning of his work…before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth….  I [wisdom] was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.  But in me?  I was having a miserable day and no one was delighting in me.  I didn’t sleep well and everything hurt, including the scrape on my shin I got trying to climb into my bunk which had nothing I could grasp to stay balanced and pull myself up.  And we had how far to go before we stopped?  I was pretty cranky all day.  Was it because this morning I was not listening to the Lord and waiting at his doorway (v. 34)?  Dear Jesus, please forgive me.  Help me to remember you are where I find my life.

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Wednesday May 22, 2019

Ponte de Lima to Rubiaes, Portugal—Day 7; ca. 32,000 steps

Proverbs 7 v. 2-3  Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.  Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.  Our Lord’s commands bring life and it is good to have them close.  But the whole Bible is interwoven with God’s commands.  How can we remember them all?  Jesus made it simple:  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your soul and with all your strength.  And love your neighbor as much as you love yourself” (Mark 12:30-31).  Just follow these two rules and we will have accomplished all that God requires.  So simple to remember but hard to live out!  Dear Lord, help us to worship you more deeply and to love those you put around us more truly.

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Tuesday May 21, 2019

Ponte de Lima, Portugal—Day 6; 8000 steps

Proverbs 6

v. 16-19  There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.  I would say other people hate these things too.  Fortunately they’re rarely seen along the Camino.  Pilgrims we have met are polite, helpful and willing to share their cookies or their scoop on albergues.  They speak kindly of one another. They hope to be not troublemakers but peacemakers, not just along the Camino but in the wider world of their everyday lives.  Thank you, Lord, for the good intentions of pilgrims we meet.  May we also be a blessing to them.

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It’s our day off and we slept late—until 7:20 anyway.  Our included buffet breakfast (oh, what a luxury this is for pilgrims!) was a typical European spread with the addition of sauteed eggplant, a big bowl of fresh cherries, a loaf of quince jelly and—oh look!—a tray of pastels de nata.  As we ate, dreadful jazz versions of two Christmas songs played over and over through the sound system.  We went back to our room and opened the balcony door.  The marching music outside started at 8:40.

Monday May 20, 2019

Lugar do Corgo to Ponte de Lima, Portugal—Day 5; 21,312 steps

Proverbs 5 

v. 11-12, 14a  At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent.  You will say, “How I hated discipline!  How my heart spurned correction!…  And I was soon in serious trouble….”  In a conversation with German Raik I referred to him as a millenial.  “I’m not a millenial,” he said.  “I have focus.  Millenials don’t know what they want.  They don’t have any goals.  I’m not a millenial anymore.”  I can’t speak for other young—or older—people on the Camino but I know many who walk are looking for something, following a call, seeking purpose.  They don’t want their life to drift away unlived.  So they discipline themselves with backpack and early wake-ups and many kilometers underfoot each day, preparing themselves for what they hope the Way will give them.  Dear Lord Jesus, may all these pilgrims meet you, the One who is the Way.

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We heard no sound until we got up at 7 am.  Jacinto put out breakfast at the long table:  rolls, cheese, some kind of salami I didn’t touch, butter, plenty of jam, coffee, tea and Nestle’s chocolate powder for my hot chocolate.  There was no sign of Portuguese Fernanda.  I gave Brazilian Fernanda more painkillers for her walk today.