November 1, 2011. All Saints
I woke at 6.00 a.m. to the sound of thunder and wondered if it was a mistake not to have begun the Camino yesterday. A look out the window revealed torrential rain. Daniela said it was too wet to go and I could stay in another hostel up the road. Julien said that if I went I should not take the more difficult mountain route because of the danger of getting lost and being alone.
At 7. 50 a.m. I walked out into the gloom of the morning rain, uncertain and with the intention of going to the church to pray for guidance but it was locked and soon I found myself walking the road to Valcarlos where I arrived two hours later soaked to the skin, despite my rain gear.
From there the rain eased off and most of the day took me through miles of beautiful forest, mountains and rivers. And utter solitude! Only two people crossed my path that day - one a hunter with his dog and the other a sprightly Italian whose pace left me feeling somewhat inferior. But he wasn’t carrying a backpack!
Innocence allows me to stand looking up at the mountains rising high above me, realizing that I am so small. And at the same time I am aware that I stand higher than the tops of the trees and torrents below me. The highest point on this part of the journey is 3,100 feet.
“From the dust He lifts up the lowly, from the dungheap he raises the poor”
(Psalm 113)
(Psalm 113)
As Provincial I lived on the dungheap and today in this place I am lifted up. I groan and gasp in wonder at God and at what He is doing. Such a happy day.
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