I know I said my last post was probably my last post, but several pilgrims asked the question, so here is one more blog item: http://pat-the-expat.com/2018/06/17/be-careful-what-you-pray-for/
Thank you with all my heart for this post. You may have not smiled all the way on the 'buen camino' but your reflections to me are those of a true pilgrim.
Having done the camino three times so far, and preparing for the fourth, I , from personal experience, so much agree on several points:
1. The intent we set is absolutely essential and no doubt fully correlated to the experience of the journey.
2. How that intent is manifested, has little to do with our expectations or plans, but everything with what is required to achieve it - and that is blatantly beyond our ego control. While this can be rather funny in retrospect (i.e. when we finally get the message) it may not be so much while we drink the required medicine.
Finally, as many regularly point out on these forums, the Camino is like everyday life in a more real and concentrated form. Perhaps, for me, that's the attraction of it. Isn't the promise of a pilgrimage to speed up our salvation, i.e. to bring us closer to God by shedding more of our attachments, expectations and desires? To Let Go, and Let God. Thank you for reminding me before I set out once again (after I told myself 9 years ago it would be my last one).
Ouch!
Bristle!
Salve…
True pilgrim, please, show me your face!
Show me your hands, your feet… unzip your façade
Show me your goodness
Show me your yearning
Show me your smallness
Show me myself
There is something cooking in my brain on this topic, but I am hesitant to post yet, if I ever do, because of the dangers inherent in posting without foreseeing any possible hurt or criticism. So this morning, I was not really surprised to find a comment in a reflection site I use every day, where Thomas Merton is quoted. The Camino of life certainly does provide!
I will attach the reference to it, for those whose belief system is open to the God Merton believed in. If this reference is not allowed according to forum rules, sorry but the post will disappear!
http://goodnews.ie/calendar.php