Remembering the Camino

It has been a week since my arrival into Santiago and my heart is flooded with many memories. As I begin to talk to others about my experience on the Camino, these memories become more vivid and the reality of the time on pilgrimage grows deeper in my heart. In gratitude I share these memories and funny moments on the way to Santiago:

Sights Along the Camino

• The brilliant golden flowers along the road side and the clear blue sky above - Camino colors alive in the natural world


• Cows making their way to pasture up the Camino trail - sharing the trail with the cows


• Corn fields sprouting new plants - farmers repairing their grain drying structures for the new harvest


• Cherry trees ablaze with red ripe fruit - farmers selling the fruit to passing pilgrims


• Misty mornings and fog hanging in the Galician valley


• The smell of eucalyptus trees as pilgrims made their way into the hills of Galicia - moving closer to Santiago with each step
  

Funny Moments Along the Camino

• Searching for a private spot along the camino for a toilette stop and ending up in a ditch


• Waiting for a friend to come by and asking for help getting out of the weeds, once again on a toilette search


• Balancing on a rock to take a break and figuring out how open my orange and not slide off the rock into the mud


• Standing in the middle of a road wondering how to pass through the ankle deep mud

Heart Touching Moments on the Camino

• The first sight of Santiago from Mont de Gozo


• The sound of the bagpipe echoing across the plaza the Cathedral Plaza in Santiago


• Finding a fellow pilgrim in the plaza at the Cathedral who you had not seen in a few weeks


• Receiving your Compostela in the Pilgrim Office


• Saying goodbye to your camino companions as pilgrims begin to leave Santiago for their homes


• Promising to stay in contact with new friends with whom you have shared the incredible journey across the hills of Spain

Questions that Challenge the Heart

• How is God moving my heart as I leave the Camino?


• What is essential for my life - how is the Camino continuing to grow in me?


• Walking consciously and seeing with an open heart are essential aspects of pilgrimage - how will I continue to walk and see with eyes of faith in my daily life?


• Walking the Camino has stretched my heart - I seek the grace to continue to allow my heart to be expanded to hold lovingly the needs of those I meet. May I grow in the grace to free my heart of the obstacles that block this growing vulnerability.

As I begin the journey home, and the beginning of a new ministry - I pray that the memories and graces of the Camino will filter through my being and shape the way that I walk through the coming months. When I am home I will down load my many pictures. I hope to share some photos of my Camino Journey. More to come when I am home!

Peace,

Ona