Walking the Camino de Santiago
Thoughts about the spiritual aspects of the Camino.
Yesterday, Francine posted some very good ruminations on her blog about her time on the Camino. She was far more eloquent than I on the experience, and particularly the post-Camino experience. Honestly, after more than half a year, I’m still trying to process it. I haven’t even been able to post and catalogue all my photos yet – although I’ve […]
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Today is the feast of Saint James the Apostle, son of Zebedee and Salome of Bethsaida, brother of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist. One of the “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17). Santiago. On this day last year, I wrote about what we know of Saint James from scripture and tradition. That was before I had walked 500 miles to […]
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God’s communications with us humans are often subtle. As the Prophet Elijah discovered, the Voice of God is often to be found in the whispering wind (1 Kings 19:11-13). Sometimes, however, God reaches out and whacks us upside the head, either physically or mentally. One such time in the history of the Church is the famous story of my name […]
» Read moreThey say you meet the Devil three times on the Camino. While I cannot (yet) attest to the veracity of this tradition, I can verify that his temptations are to be found everywhere. Despite such temptation, yesterday we completed the long, long walk from Palas do Rey to Arzúa, aka “Cheesetown”, a distance of about 30 km in the pouring […]
» Read moreWe’ve made excellent progress the past two days through the undulating farm and forest lands of Galicia. We’ve certainly had our share of weird weather en route, from sudden hailstorms to today’s gale-force winds, but overall it’s been sunny and cool. In my experience so far, there are three basic kinds of people walking the Camino: pilgrims, tourists, and hikers. […]
» Read moreIt seems like I´ve been walking the long, straight paths of the Meseta forever, though in truth it´s only been six days. Less than a week! But many of the photos taken are of the road I´m travelling, generally a straight line to the horizon. There´s a lot of time to think on the Meseta while you walk through the […]
» Read more08 April 2013 Short, difficult day today. The roads were fairly easy, but all of us are feeling yesterday. Logrono is a big city, and getting in and out of the cities is a lot of walking on concrete. No fun. Cliff left first and was soon out of sight. Charlie is staying a couple of days in the city […]
» Read moreWhen in April the sweet showers fall And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all The veins are bathed in liquor of such power As brings about the engendering of the flower, When also Zephyrus with his sweet breath Exhales an air in every grove and heath Upon the tender shoots, and the young sun His half-course […]
» Read moreSee that? That’s what REI stamped on my hand for entry and re-entry into their semi-annual “used equipment” (read: garage) sale. The fellow stamped it on the back of my hand. I looked down and my mouth opened in a little “o”. Before I knew it, words came out. That’s how that generally works with me. The brain runs faster […]
» Read moreThis past weekend was a crazy whirl of last minute errands and bon voyages. Although I’m not leaving until Easter Sunday, and Francine not until the 17th of April, we thought it best to avoid the rushing around the week before Easter. We topped up our equipment at the REI sale in Tacoma on Saturday. Some crazy deals at the […]
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