PilgrimDance

9th-century Iglesia de Santa Maria Real, O Cebreiro, with sello

(La Portela de Valcarce to O Cebreiro: 14.8 km, 5 3/4 hours with 1 hr & 40 min breaks; 21,170 steps, plus 1830 later)

Philippians 4:4-9
v. 4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

“Rejoice in the Lord always!” The joy to be found in our relationship with the Lord is always greater than whatever despairing situation in which we find ourselves. I need to look to that joy instead of the steepness of the rocky path under my feet. I’ll get up it. We pray every day in our pilgrim prayer that Jesus will be for us “a companion on our journey, the guide on our intersections, the strengthening during fatigue….” Will he not answer with his presence, his direction, his strength and his joy? So rejoice! “Let your gentleness be evident to all,” even the careless pilgrims blowing smoke in my direction at the tables outside the bar. “Do not be anxious about anything,” not lung damage from the smoke, not two beds for the night, not even whether the laundry will dry. I just need to discuss it with the Lord, thankfully remembering all he’s already done for us. As we wait for answers, even answers we might not expect, he brings us peace. Thank you, Jesus, for your joy even in the difficulties and irritations of life.

*********************************

We slept fine, but the bar was not open at seven as the barkeep had told Maurice it would be. Since the day’s path was to be so steep, we had decided to send our packs ahead and weren’t sure where to put them. We were also supposed to call to confirm our hotel in O Cebreiro and we were counting on the barkeep to help us with that. We took our time getting ready and finally left at 8:15, breakfastless once again, with a light in the bar but the door still locked. Maurice called the transport company himself; their English was minimal, his Spanish is nil. They got the message our packs were waiting; they’d find them. As for the hotel–well, Maurice called them too and they didn’t answer but Maurice may have accidentally dialed a number in Iran. Or Singapore. Or both. At least that’s what his phone says. Keep reading

Villafranca del Bierzo

(Cacabelos to La Portela de Valcarce: 22 km, 6 hours 40 minutes with 1 1/2 hours breaks; 31,00 steps)

Philippians 3:12-4:1
v. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

I am done–ready to be finished with this pilgrimage. We’ve been walking for over a month now and we have not arrived at our goal. We are so tired. As we came through the hills the sky clouded over and the temperature dropped. The toughest climb of the walk looms in the morning, and my weather app tells me the chance of rain tomorrow is 100%. But we can’t stop now. We have to keep walking, to press on in this journey in which Jesus took hold of us and said, “Let’s go!” Though our gaze may be mostly at the rocks in the path that threaten to trip us, Jesus sees beyond the horizon to the blessings at the end of this walk and the eternal goal of all our lives. Lord Jesus, help us to hold on to you and to keep walking.

**************************** Keep reading

Riego de Ambros

(Molinaseca to Las Angustias: 22.7 km; 34,953 steps, plus 3860 later)

Philippians 2:12-18
v. 14 Do everything without grumbling or complaining.

Uh huh. How, then, am I supposed to discharge my miserable fatigue? “Come to me, you who are weary and burdened,” says Jesus (Matthew 11:28), and so I will. I am so very tired, Lord. I am tired of walking. I am tired of junky paths and rocks underfoot. I am tired of carrying this pack. I am tired of carrying the poles when I don’t need to use them and tired of taking pictures and tired of friendly greetings with passing pilgrims. I am tired of getting up at 6 am and trying to quietly get ready in the dark. I am tired of squeezing out my laundry as hard as I can and tired of it not drying anyway. I am tired of potatoes. I am tired of the search for restroom facilities. I am tired of people smoking in my space and tired of not having any space. I am tired of chewing as fast as I can and not being able to properly compose my pictures and rushing through the day because we have to do the kilometers. I am just tired. The rest and the motionless sitting in the sun we had on the plaza in Leon seem very far away. Please, Lord, energize me and refresh me again.

**********************************

The bathroom facilities in this albergue are quite adequate even though they are in the basement. Breakfast was OK–orange juice, a hot drink and two big slabs of tostada with plenty of butter and jam. But the smoke! People started puffing on the porch before dawn and the smoke was sucked into every open window and door of this otherwise lovely albergue.

We had a nice enough walk into Ponferrada, mostly downhill but not too steep. We took selfies by the castillo in the sun then spent over an hour walking around looking for an ATM, a grocery store and a bar with bacon and eggs. Ha. How about a bar with a chocolate croissant? Nope. Finally just a bar with a WC would do.

Keep reading

We did it!  We walked 500 miles across Spain!  Stay tuned for details on the rest of the days that got us here.

(Foncebadon’ to Molinaseca: 20.3 km, 7 hours with 1 hr & 35 min breaks; 30,200 steps, with a few more later)

Philippians 2:1-11
v. 9-11 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The name that is above every name–all the greatest personnages and cities of the earth–is the name of Jesus. God has exalted him to the highest place–higher than mankind’s engineering marvels, higher than Fancebadon’ and other Camino mountain villages–as Lord of heaven and earth. One day, to God’s everlasting glory, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Hallelujah! Lord Jesus, may we honor you with all our lives.

**********************************

In the 8 am darkness the fog hung thickly on Foncebadon’, softening its decaying gray buildings. An international contingent of us tramped up the rugged street, up and out of the stone town. As the morning lightened, fog wrapped around fences and bushes along the path.

Keep reading

(Murias de Rechivaldo to Foncebadon’: 20.8 km, 7 hours, with 1 hour & 50 minutes breaks; 29,800 steps, plus 2435 later)

Ephesians 2:11-22
v. 12b-13 …without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

We don’t ask everyone we meet why they are walking the Camino; I’ve started to perceive that people’s motivations are somewhat private. But almost none of the people we’ve asked have been able to elucidate a clear reason. They have an amorphous call, or they have issues to think through; they seem to be looking for something. The pilgrim graffiti in various places bears this out. There is a yearning, a search for meaning, a desire for something more. I’ve heard very little talk of God, which seems a bit odd on a Christian pilgrimage route. No one but us (that we’ve noticed) prays before dinner. My guess is that few of the pilgrims are committed to the Christian faith. They are, as Paul writes, “without hope and without God in the world”–as we all once were. I don’t think I say enough to offer the answer they are looking for, that “now in Christ Jesus [we all] who once were far away” and searching for our heart’s desire can be “brought near by the blood of Christ.” Dear Lord, please touch the heart of every person making this pilgrimage. Draw each one closer to the gospel of hope and salvation in Jesus.

**********************************

We got up and ready for the day by flashlight and the light of the bathroom and were outside in the dark by 7:10, but that was only because we had no breakfast. No breakfast is never a good thing but Maurice had a plan. Last night he had asked at Las Aguedas, another albergue, if we could come for breakfast and the hospitalero agreed. So we paid our 7 euros and ate in their cozy little wood-paneled dining room. There were cartons of juice to pour yourself, and tubs of margarine and jars of marmelade so you could pile as much as you wanted onto your hard toast–so much better than the teaspoon-sized pre-packaged condiments of a bar breakfast. Keep reading

Pilgrims

(Santibanez de Valdeiglesia to Murias de Rechivaldo: 16.7 km, 6 3/4 hours with 3 hrs stopping; 25,990 steps, plus 1940 later)

2Corinthians 4:1-18
v. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Jars of clay. Earthen vessels. Cracked pots. We are fragile beings, not made to long survive in this world. Yet God has given us precious treasure. Paul is referring to the gospel of salvation given to mankind, but there are other treasures too that we cherish in our jars of clay: love for family and friends, beauty we have beheld, wisdom hard acquired, dreams for the future. How could such riches disappear when our bodies return to dust? They don’t have to. The same all-surpassing power of God who gives the gifts is able to preserve them for eternity if only we grasp the best treasure, the salvation Jesus won for us on the cross. Our jars of clay will crumble but by Jesus’ sacrifice his own gifts to us will display his grace forever. Thank you, Lord, for the wonderful gifts you give us to enjoy even in our jars of clay.

****************************

The mattresses were thin but once I fell asleep I stayed asleep until morning. Not so with Maurice. He was awakened by a commotion when the mother of the twins jumped up and dashed outside with her sleeping bag. “Bedbugs!” thought Maurice. Fortunately for us all, no, but not so fortunate for them, for one of the boys was sick. Keep reading

Santiago patiently waiting for us to get going in Villar de Mazarife

(Villar de Mazarife to Santibanez de Valdeiglesia: 19.5 km, 5 3/4 hours, with 1 hr & 30 min breaks; 27,271 steps, plus some more later)

1Corinthians 10:1-13
v. 13 No temptation or testing has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

Today’s passage is talking about suffering again. But God always comes to the rescue, stepping in just when we think we can’t bear any more. He does this in little ways too: a bar with a loo when I’m about to burst, real beds without a lot of searching, Maurice’s phone with our music for the hard walks, fuentes flowing with cool water. These are little things mostly, things pilgrims a thousand years ago wouldn’t have needed but we 21st-century American weaklings do. In his tenderness God stoops to meet us where we are. Thank you, Lord, for all the ways you step in to meet us on this pilgrimage and in all of life.

*********************************

It was cold during the night in our sea green room in the Albergue de Jesus and we were thankful for the new-looking horse blankets at the foot of our beds. In the tiny bar we ate toasted crusts for breakfast. Keep reading

Leaving Leon at dawn

(Leon to Villar de Mazarife: 21.8 km, 5 1/2 hours, with 1 hr in breaks; 29,500 steps, plus 2520 later)

Romans 8:18, 31-39
v. 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

This Camino is hard, and it hurts, but this is a journey of our choosing, a gentle yet persistent call freely accepted. In the big picture our misery is trifling. In the Leon museums I was confronted with depictions of faithful martyrs for the gospel dying gruesome deaths. Even their suffering, writes Paul, “is not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” It’s another hint of the inexpressibly wonderful kingdom God has prepared for his children. Thank you, Lord, for your grace to endure suffering and for your promises for the future.

****************************

The workers in the streets labored all night setting up for festivities to begin anew the following night; we heard them whenever they hammered or shouted loud enough to wake us up. When we we left the hotel at 7:50 am, carrying our packs again, it wasn’t as cold as we had expected, probably only in the low fifties. The streets were dark and empty. As we walked traffic was sparse and some streets had none at all–at a time it would be rush hour in any city in the US. We decided the upcoming evening’s fest was to be such a big event that everyone was resting up for it. Keep reading

Tympanum at San Isidoro:  Abraham and Isaac and the ram caught in the bush

(Leon, Spain: 3721 walking-around steps)

Romans 8:5-13
v. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.  And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Subject to death, indeed. Death by thousands of steps each day, soon adding to millions, and the trauma they inflict on the body. Toes, arches, bunions, heels, all the rest of the feet, calves, shins, knees, thighs, hips, glutes, back, shoulders–it all hurts, just hopefully not all at the same time. Does the body ever get used to this? It is easier than it was the first week but we still ache at the end of the day. It’s probably harder on those of us at the far end of the age spectrum; we’ve had more decades to operate all our parts and start to wear them out. Yet the Spirit of Christ Jesus, perfect in righteousness and rich in love toward all he has created, continues to give us life by his grace. He renews us day by day and will do so until the moment he enlivens our dying flesh with immortality. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your life-giving Spirit at work even now, and forever, in those who trust in you.

*****************************

When we finally got up we had pastry and orange juice in our room before going for pastry and hot drinks at the chocolateria. In front of the cathedral we wandered around a vegetable market bursting with huge red peppers and fat onions.

At our little San Isidoro plaza a stage was being set up and decorative banners have been strung across the street we walk down. Keep reading