Greetings from El Burgo Ranero. It has been satisfying getting here because on Monday morning I passed the 365 km mark, which is the halfway point from Pamplona to Santiago! The accompanying photograph shows me with only another 360 km to go! As I write this it is now below 340 km.
The walking continues to go well. I had some difficulties with my back for a few days, but visited a doctor in Carrion de los Condes who helped me a lot. I have had several good days of walking since then without a great deal of pain. Long may that last!
I continue to meet amazing people who inspire and encourage me. One such is a man called Adrian who began the Camino and in the first few days injured himself and could not continue. He was very disappointed and considered returning home. However, he was introduced to a local Spanish man and the two of them now support other pilgrims. Adrian has resources and has hired a van, so the two of them park the van along the route, particularly where there are long stretches without water or resources. There they welcome pilgrims and provide free snacks, fruit, water, and juices to tired pilgrims. Adrian sees it as doing the Camino in a different way! In doing so the two of them engage in conversation with those who stop, and people have found this very encouraging. I have had the good fortune to have dinner with the two of them on two occasions and have listened to their stories.
One of the things I have realised yet again is how little we know about other people. I have met people and, unfortunately, quickly came to judgments about them, both positive and negative. Then as I’ve gotten to know them, I’ve realised how inadequate those judgments were. I have become very aware that people have such different enriching and damaging experiences as they grow up and how important their childhood experiences are. Some of the stories I’ve heard about—how people were treated in childhood and the damage and the scars that those experiences have left—have led me to be so grateful for my own childhood!
Nevertheless, I’m also aware there is hidden damage that has been experienced and there are fears out of which I work and cannot find a reason. One young woman that I have walked with a couple of times and had meals with, talks about what she felt at the time was an idyllic childhood. However, when she grew older, and particularly after she was married, she realized how dysfunctional her family was. She became aware of the hurt and trauma that was underneath the fears she experienced or the assumptions she was making about other people, about life, about what her future held. As I listen to these stories, I am conscious of the experiences of so many of our students at Bethlehem University and the challenges they experience in their context.
I have known about some of these things and have intellectual knowledge from seminars or from books. However, hearing people talk about their experience made it so much more real. After listening to them, and then subsequently walking by myself, has given me the chance to reflect on those stories and my own life. What has come to my mind is the section at the end of Thomas Keating’s welcoming prayer which I use to ask God to help me to be open to God’s love, to God’s presence, and God’s actions within. I am very aware that it’s these actions within where God is working, and I want to be open to where that might lead. Having the time to be still, to wonder, and to listen has been a great blessing of this pilgrimage.
I continue to hear about people supporting this project and also encouraging their relatives and friends to do the same. Thank you on behalf of those students who are going to benefit from what arises from my small effort in walking these kilometers. Blessings on you for your efforts.
To stand in solidarity with Bethlehem University students, as Brother Peter is doing via the Camino, please click here to support.