We were on the road by 06:45, stopping for coffee and bread. We walked to Arcade hoping to swim but the beach did not look very appealing. We then stocked up on bread, cheese and meet for lunch. This we enjoyed along the road. We took a detour for the last 3 km into town, walking in the shade next to a river.
The albergue can accommodate 56 pilgrims and is almost full. This makes sleeping a challenge! After the usual routine, we walked to a shop to buy food for supper and tomorrow's breakfast. Tonight it is salad, cold pork and Spanish wine.
We can feel the more than 300km we have walked so far. Our feet are tired and our legs feel like we are training for the Comrades again. We are looking forward in arriving in Santiago on Thursday - Dio Valente.
I was reflecting on the frustration of not being able to pray at a small chapel where we stopped briefly. The way is now more busy and pilgrims walk in and out of the chapel. I later read this from John Main, which I posted last year some time: "I think there comes a time in the life of every Christian when we have to choose decisively between the infantile prayer of the past, necessarily self-centred, and the prayer of Jesus, the prayer which is going on within us, filling us with the life that takes us beyond ourselves, a life that shatters all the fear-laden barriers that have so far prevented us from being fully ourselves. It is because we are not fully ourselves that we are not capable of becoming fully brothers and sisters to one another; that is the distancing of ourselves from our neighbour – our own fear. And that is the fear that is cast out by the experience of the love of Christ active within us".(Awakening 2, John Main OSB).
The road becomes the prayer inside of us. Every step we take, Jesus is praying within us. That is why it is a pilgrimage. The prayer of Christ is drawing us into the presence of God. It is no longer about what we want to achieve, but what does God want to achieve in us and with us.
Ultreia, Suseia, Deus adiuvanos.
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