Day 40
“We are pilgrims on a journey

We’re companions on the road,

we are to help each other,

walk the mile and bear the load.” 

The Servant Song—Richard Gilliard 

This is part of a larger “song” poem which you will be seeing in the next few days. 
It’s speaks of the journey that so many have been on with Lindsay and me, and that Jim joined on the Camino de Santiago. 

There is an interesting sense as you walk the way of Santiago. You make friends fast and often they become lifelong friends. 

Meeting over steps along the way, or a meal shared, laughter, stories,…

…sleeping in dorm style living quarters. And then you might not see them for several days and you run into them in a small village coffee shop and you greet them as if you’ve known each other all your lives. 

“We are pilgrims on a journey

We’re companions on the road,

we are to help each other,

walk the mile and bear the load.” 

But there is more to it than that. These same people go out of their way to help you and you go out of your way to help them. Sharing food, bandages, assisting with blisters, or other emergencies. I met a woman who was having terrible knee trouble and a man from Germany was carrying her pack on his front and his on his back to help her out. 

(Okay maybe not this guy, although he gave us a great laugh!!)

But this poem speaks of a greater journey that we are on, I believe. It is this journey of life where we are also pilgrims. It is wonderful when we can be companions helping each other on each mile and bearing the load. I encourage you to take time to see the people around you as fellow pilgrims…on the road. 

Buen Camino 

Day 39
“Lord, be the companion on our journey.” Anonymous 
Tomorrow we will head on to Santiago. It is the “destination” or “end of the journey” in many ways of the camino, although many people venture on to Finisterra and/or Muxia. But in reality the journey continues beyond the confines of the city of Santiago and even beyond Finisterra or Muxia. 

And it is important to learn the lessons of the camino 
…to keep moving…forward…moving onward…to not stop when you reach the “destination”…

…to do this you need to listen not only with your ears but more importantly to your heart and where the divine may be moving you, changing you, helping you to grow….

…to allow yourself the opportunity to be quiet with the changes and hopes and dreams of your journey…to share them as you are able, and to live into them…

…and to realize that you never journey alone…but the God of love who created you and believes in you whether you believe walks with you…always…

Buen Camino 

Day 38
“Well I came home

Like a stone
And I fell Heavy into your arms These days of dust,

Wish we would’ve known,

Will blow away with this new sun 

But I’ll kneel down, wait for now 

I’ll kneel down, know my ground 

I will wait, I wait wait for you

And I will wait, I wait wait for you 

So bring my step

And relent, you forgave and I wont forget Know what we’ve seen

And him with less
knowing some way to shake the excess 

I will wait, I will wait for you

And I will wait, I will wait for you 

And I will wait, I will wait for you And I will wait, I will wait for you 

Now Ill be bold, as well as strong

And use my head, along side my heart 

So tame my flesh and fix my eyes
 A tethered mind freed from the lies 

But I’ll kneel down, wait for now I’ll kneel down, know my ground 

Raise my hands

Paint my spirit gold

Bow my head, feel my heart slow 

I will wait, I wait wait for you

And I will wait, I will wait for you

And I will wait, I will wait for you

And I will wait, I will wait for you “ 
I Will Wait- Mumford and Sons 

I really have no idea what Mumford and Sons meant when they wrote this song. I do know that from the first time I heard it I liked it. It moved me. I’ve read the words over and pondered how they can be interpreted: about a parent and a child who are reconciling; about a couple who are separated for whatever reasons; or a community that has gone through a rift and is now waiting to restore harmony. 

Or maybe just maybe we can think that the person talking is referring to the divine. And the one who who is waiting…is wait for God. 

For this song seems almost a prayer of dedication, a promise of sorts whether it s between individuals, or a community or a person/community and the divine. 

‘But I’ll kneel down, wait for now I’ll kneel down, know my ground 

Raise my hands

Paint my spirit gold

Bow my head, feel my heart slow 

I will wait, I wait wait for you

And I will wait, I will wait for you.’
Waiting, however, is a difficult venture. And one that should not be taken lightly. It takes a great deal of courage and energy. While on  the camino there is a great deal of waiting that goes on. You wait on friends to catch up, wait to get to the next town, wait to hear of news of friends, wait to hear from loved ones back home. In our daily lives we do a lot of waiting too. 

I know many of you are waiting for something…answers to questions, tests results, resolutions, waiting for babies to be born, a big date to arrive, illness to run its course….waiting takes courage and energy. May you be given the strength and guidance and hope you need as you wait expectantly today, tomorrow and everyday. 🙂

Buen Camino

Day 37

“Take to the highway, won’t you lend me your name?

Your way and my way seem to be one and the same.

Mamma don’t understand it, she wants to know where I’ve been.

I’d have to be some kind of natural born fool to want to pass that way again, But I could feel it on a country road. Sail on home to Jesus, won’t you good girls and boys.
I’m all in pieces, you can have your own choice.

But I can hear a heavenly band full of angels and they’re coming to set me free. I don’t know nothing ’bout the why or when but I can tell that it’s bound to be, because I could feel it, child, yeah, on a country road. 

I guess my feet know where they want me to go walking on a country road.
Walk on down, walk on down, walk on down a country road…” 
Country Road by James Taylor 

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This song is featured in the movie “The Way” with Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez about the Camino de Santiago. I can honestly say I’m not sure I had ever hear it before seeing the movie. But it’s become a favorite of mine. It’s even my alarm ring tone on my phone to wake me up in the morning. 

But I found it fascinating that it was used for this movie about a walk across Spain. I don’t mean that in a derogatory way but country roads were something that country and western singers sang about and growing up in Oklahoma that was confined to my provincial life of rural Oklahoma. But fortunately I have been able to travel. I see way beyond my borders both figuratively and literally now. And in this I have learned that country roads are in all countries. It’s like St Augustine said, “the world is a book and those who don’t travel read only one page.” 

There’s something about this walk…this Pilgrimage that moves you…certainly moves you toward Santiago, Finisterra, Muxia but also beyond. The common phrase on the camino is to pass a fellow pilgrim and say Buen Camino literally “good way”. But another saying is Ultreia! It means keep going, reaching beyond, heading onwards. 

I suppose if we listen well “we all know where our feet want us to go”…it may be down a country road…but only time will tell. 

Buen Camino 

Ultreia