Yesterday not a single pilgrim! It was like the story Jesus told: A man made a pot of pasta for at least four people. He left the front door open. He opened a bottle of Portuguese wine. He later sat down, sipped the wine and ate in silence. By 20:00 he realised no one was coming. He left the pot on the stove and corked the bottle of wine. He could not go into the street to call the strangers because the Albergues are strictly only for pilgrims and the neighbors had dinner already.
One has to be very realistic to volunteer to work at an Albergue. You must be willing to clean toilets, wash floors and welcome strangers. You must not be afraid of living in community and willing to sacrifice privacy. You must be able to embrace silence and solitude. And you must be rooted! There is nothing glamorous to this work, people are not going to write nice comments in the comments book and you will not know if you made a difference. But that is what serving is about. It is sacrificial and because the God I worship is a sacrificial God, I will do all of this because it is of Him and for Him.
Yesterday afternoon I was sitting outside when Jose in the wheelchair arrives. He greets me with a shake of the hand (and so does Manual when he arrives). We start talking (Google translate!) He has been living in this village for thirty years. He has been in the wheelchair for the past 20 years. He worked in construction, amongst others, for three years in France and can also speak French.
How easily did they accept me as part of their community, this in spite of the language barrier?
Community!
This is the one thing that is lying heavily on my heart the past few weeks. For St Benedict (The Rule of Benedict) everything stand or fall with the community, community grounded in God and built on love, respect and silence. This is the spirituality of Benedict.
O, how far do I still need to journey....
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