At peace with the path…

Yesterday (Palm Sunday) was a rest and retreat day at the monastery in Armenteira. What a gift! The day started early with Laudes (morning prayer) - listening to the sisters singing with and to one another as they do every single day was really special. Later in the morning there was Mass which began with a procession around the cloisters with olive branches waving. It felt like a real privilege to be able to be present for these services.

I spent a good part of the rest of the day sitting in a garden area, next to a babbling brook, sun shining through the trees, birds and butterflies flitting about.

Bliss.

I thought a lot about why I am doing this Camino. I re-read some of these posts, and the journal I’ve been writing. So much has happened in the three weeks since we started, it’s hard to remember it all.

My mind was drawn again to the lyrics of a song I shared in a previous post, Wisdom and Grace, especially this line…

“you’ve been our home and our dwelling our place in all generations“

Those words hit me at a visceral level, in my soul. The sure knowledge that my home is in God, is in Love, is in the presence that hold this universe together, the Spirit hovering over the water at creation.

For me pilgrimage is the active walking out and into the full knowledge of my true home in God and in the world.

My feet in both places.

The physical realm and the spiritual realm.

Pilgrimage feels like a place of special connection between the physical and the spiritual.

So, to answer my own question - why am I walking this Camino, this pilgrimage?

I’m walking this Camino to experience my feet in both worlds.

There is challenge and joy along the way of course. Physical challenges and joys, and spiritual challenges and joys.

Neither the spiritual nor the physical realms is always easy, peaceful and calm. At times there can be turmoil in either spaces.

Yesterday I knew the route was a difficult one. A very long uphill section and a steep downhill section. I treated the path as a challenge to be overcome, almost something to be beaten into submission.

It did not go well. Yes, I did succeed in getting to the end of the path, but I did not have peace in the process. It was messier and more stressful than it needed to be.

I knew that today’s path held its own challenges. But today I chose to be friends with the path, to change my attitude so that it was not something to be overcome, but something to be enjoyed and experienced.

It was an extraordinary day. The path was challenging, at times very challenging. And yet it was full of glory and joy and beauty.

As I walked, I said thank you to the trees and the branches that were available to help me down a particularly difficult section.

I said thank you to the roots on the ground that provided space for my feet to feel safe as they made their way down a tricky section.

I said thank you to the moss covered rocks that provided handholds just when I needed them.

I said thank you to the river, the waterfalls and the still pools which provided such beauty along the way.

I said thank you to all of it as I walked through and that made all the difference.

(Photo credit: Robin Ridenour)