Leon

Another day in Leon, and a day that I surely needed and have throughly enjoyed. My morning started meeting Theresa and Susan at a coffee shop before they headed out to continue their walk. It is unlikely that I will be catching up with Theresa until Santiago at this point…because though we still have just over 300 km to go, it is beginning to feel like the end.

Diana also took a bus into town this morning, and also joined us for breakfast. She also decided to skip this last stage into Leon, and have an extra rest day. Apparently, I am setting a very good example of how to manage some of the more difficult parts of the Camino.

This second part of the Camino which ends in Leon is said to be the mentally challenging segment, walking through the vast and flat fields of the meseta. I struggled on this stage, the mental challenging segment, but as Bernadette pointed out tonight, it is the relentless routine and predicable walking of the meseta that challenges our minds to not wander, but to stay focussed on every step forward. To not think of anything except the next step. On this stage, many of us tried music or prayer to conquer the meseta, some of us took a bus. The Camino at this stage becomes very personalized, and we are beginning to loose our attachments to the ideas we may have had about the Camino.

The first phase is the physical challenge and this next stage, the third phase which we enter after we leave Leon is the spiritual challenge. I am thankful for these days of rest before I tackle the spiritual challenge of the Camino. Today, I was in prayer so long at the Cathedral that they had to shoo me out! So I think I am ready. The Cathedrals, the chapels, the little churches in the smallest of towns are often open. Everyone is encouraged to enter, and for some of us, these churches, large or small, offer quiet moments of solitude and reflection which on the Camino is as important as good fitting shoes, and a proper meal.

But what I am really beginning to notice about the Camino is the camaraderie that has emerged. In the pictures, you can see that I spend much of my time with the same group of women, but during the day, just walking down the main avenue, pilgrims are bumping into pilgrims, stopping and chatting, sharing our “war” stories…In my own travels today, I bumped into people that I saw only a few days ago, but also people that I haven’t seen since the first week. The Camino family is maturing at this stage, and as we all converge in Santiago in the first week of June, I think will really be when we all fully understand, what and why we are here. This question still lurks in our minds…but we are figuring it out one step at a time.Leggi altro