Day 36

“May the raindrops fall lightly on your brow.
May the soft winds freshen your Spirit.
May the sunshine brighten your heart.
May the burdens of this day rest lightly upon you.
And may God enfold you in the mantle of the divine love.” 
Traditional Irish Blessing 
After the last few days’ heat the first few lines of this blessing are so appropriate at least for where I am maybe also for where you are…light gentle rain, a gentle refreshing breeze, the sun to warm your heart and the burdens of the day be nothing more than you can handle and hand over to God. 

It’s no wonder the Irish and the Celts had blessings at the ready for all kinds of occasions. They were to the point and on point for all kinds of situations. In my study of Celtic tradition there were blessings for getting up in the morning and going to bed at night; milking the cows and birthing babies. 

For the Camino we need blessings for healing blisters and tendinitis; for overcoming shin splints and knee pain; for accepting forgiveness and giving it. We need prayers for patience and hope; for shade in heat and shelter in the storms. 

Several years ago I wrote a book of blessings (unpublished at this time) of such everyday blessings. I was hopeful that such blessings help us to realize there is help beyond ourselves; but also even the everyday tasks of life are not so mundane or ordinary that God is not interested and willing to help and love us through them. 

Buen Camino

Day 35
Birth is a beginning and death a destination;
But life is a journey.
 A going, a growing from stage to stage:
From childhood to maturity and youth to old age. 

From innocence to awareness and ignorance to knowing; From foolishness to discretion and then perhaps, to wisdom. 

From weakness to strength or strength to weakness and often back again. From health to sickness and back we pray, to health again. 

From offense to forgiveness, from loneliness to love,
From joy to gratitude, from pain to compassion.
From grief to understanding, from fear to faith;
From defeat to defeat to defeat, until, looking backward or ahead: 

We see that victory lies not at some high place along the way,
But in having made the journey, stage by stage, a sacred pilgrimage. 

Birth is a beginning and death a destination;
But life is a journey, a sacred pilgrimage,
Made stage by stage…To life everlasting. 
Life is a Journey by Alvin Fine 

I heard someone describe the Camino as life when you start it’s like birth you are learning and growing into this journey. Then in the middle part it’s like youth and middle age you have some challenges (blisters and some pains). Then you move toward the end and you begin to have to say goodbyes so it moves into old age as you reach Santiago and death. And then when you reach Finisterra it is a resurrection as you move into life everlasting. 
I think I like Alvin Fine’s description of a journey is a fit one both for the camino and for life. 

“But life is a journey, a sacred pilgrimage,
Made stage by stage.”
It isn’t always easy; it isn’t always pleasant. There are challenges and setbacks, pains and heartaches. “From innocence to awareness and ignorance to knowing; From foolishness to discretion and then perhaps, to wisdom. 

From weakness to strength or strength to weakness and back again” it’s often not a straight line. Perhaps when we understand that it helps on the journey. 

These things are difficult for us when we want easy answers and solutions to each problem that we have. These concepts are about the slow plodding of a pilgrim on a journey and not in a hurry. 

“From offense to forgiveness, from loneliness to love,
From joy to gratitude, from pain to compassion.
From grief to understanding, from fear to faith;
From defeat to defeat to defeat, until, looking backward or ahead: 

We see that victory lies not at some high place along the way,
But in having made the journey, stage by stage, a sacred pilgrimage”

And when we accept our own complicity, our own faults; when we truly move from joy to gratitude and begin to live into forgiveness and love toward others the journey does indeed become a “sacred pilgrimage”. 

Buen Camino. 

Day 34
You are my All in All 
“You are my strength when I am weak You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
When I fall down You pick me up When I run dry You fill my cup 

You are my all in all Jesus, Lamb of God Worthy is your name Jesus, Lamb of God Worthy is your name.” 

You are my All in All 

Two years ago when I left on my first Camino my congregation sang this song. We may have even been using it as a response in worship. It was quite lovely. During that camino I fell 4 times two of which were more painful than the others. I had blisters that were infected enough  to lay me off the way for four days. And then had another incident and feet that hurt that caused me to just struggle. This song was a source of strength for me on that first camino and has been on this one as well. I find myself just singing it…sometime so loudly that others turn and ask “what?”

“When I fall down 

You pick me up

When I run dry 

You fill my cup”
It’s interesting on the camino as well as in life how Jesus can come to you and help you up or fill your cup but you don’t recognize it…it might be in the kindness of another pilgrim who has had the same sort of hardship, or a hospitalera (an albergue owner or volunteer) who is gentle and understanding. It might be from a local who will walk you through the streets of their village or city to find the farmacia. It might be the cafe movil that shows up as an oasis when you have walked 15 kms in the blazing heat or brittle cold and is there to give you a cold drink or hot coffee!for a donativo (donation). I believe this is what this song is about. 

I wonder what would happen if  all of us walked our ways with each other  thinking more of helping each other instead of looking out for only “number 1”. I truly believe this world would be transformed. 

Buen Camino

Day 33
“Your word is a lamp to my feet 

and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105 

One of the aspect of the camino is to decide what time you are going to leave the albergue in the morning and start walking. An albergue is a place to stay quite inexpensive for pilgrims. It is normally a dorm like setting, with shared toilet and shower facilities. Sometimes there is also a shared meal. 

So there are some pilgrims who prefer to sleep in and start walking later. Other pilgrims get up and start walking just as the sun is rising. And then there are other pilgrims who start in the dark, before the sun has arrived and while the weather is still cool sometimes very cool. 

There are positives and negatives about all three but let’s simply focus on the early risers and our words of encouragement from the psalmist for today’s blog. 

“Your word is a lamp to my feet 

and a light to my path.”

Early risers do well to have a headlamp on so that they can see where they are going; so that they can find the arrows and shells that mark the way; so that they can see if there is a stone protruding from the path and not trip. Some pilgrims do not have headlamps and are grateful to walk with someone who has one. Some use a flashlight or their phone but that is a little more cumbersome because of trying to juggle walking sticks and water bottles and maybe a guidebook. The headlamp is really the best way to walk in the dark. It’s there but it simply shines out lighting your way, helping you to see, giving you help and hope. 

I believe the psalmist saw God’s presence and word in much the same way…as a light in dark times, a hope in hopeless situations, a peace when chaos reigned, a way when one got lost. 

May you find the divine’s guiding light in your life, guiding you along the path of life. 
Buen Camino