Day 1 Lisbon to Vila Franca de Xira

So we arrived in Lisbon with TAAG, the airlines from Angola. Their business model is simply to provide good value for money with no extra frills. We enjoyed our two flights and will make use of them again. (I would like to compare the legroom of the 777 we flew with, with other airlines. We were really comfortable!)

Once in Lisbon we got our first stamp at the St Antonio church and set off to Alverca do Ribatejo. We planned to take the train for this first stage - time constraints and to get out of the busy city. 

We arrived at Vila Franca to be met by the running of the bulls. This sport saddens me. The bulls are not hurt, but they are tormented until they are too tired to run. 

When we later walked through the town, the arena reminded me of the Christians in 250 AD on which bulls like these were let loose on. For them there was no place to hide.

So tomorrow, hopefully by 08:00 the walk will start with a 20 km stretch to Azambuja. Today we enjoyed and relaxed. Tomorrow is a new day. 
Ultreia!

PELGRIMSGEBED

Here God, U het U dienskneg Abraham uit Ur van die Galdeërs geroep en oor hom gewaak deur al sy swerftogte heen. U het die Hebreërs gelei toe hulle die woestyn oorgesteek het. Beskerm nou hierdie kinders van U, ter wille van hulle liefde vir U Naam, wyl hulle nou die pelgrimstog onderneem.

Wees hulle Reisgenoot onder weg,

hulle Gids by die kruispaaie,

hulle Krag wanneer hulle uitgeput is,

hulle Beskerming in gevaar,

hulle Beskutting op die weg,

hulle Skadu in die hitte,

hulle Lig in die donker,

hulle Troos in ongemak,

en die Inspirasie vir hulle voorneme;

sodat onder U begeleiding

hulle aan die einde van hulle pelgrimstog veilig mag arriveer en,

verryk deur genade en deugsaamheid,

mag terugkeer na hulle huis,

gevul met heling en ewige vreugde

Amen

Uit die Codex Calixtinus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Calixtinus

CAMINO DE FATIMA

"A pilgrimage is a journey or search of moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith, although sometimes it can be a metaphorical journey into someone's own beliefs. Many religions attach spiritual importance to particular places: the place of birth or death of founders or saints, or to the place of their "calling" or spiritual awakening, or of their connection (visual or verbal) with the divine, to locations where miracles were performed or witnessed, or locations where a deity is said to live or be "housed," or any site that is seen to have special spiritual powers. Such sites may be commemorated with shrines or temples that devotees are encouraged to visit for their own spiritual benefit: to be healed or have questions answered or to achieve some other spiritual benefit."

This pilgrimage that we are now again undertaking, is done in the belief that the journey is more important than the destination. This time we will be walking from Lisbon to Fatima, starting on Tuesday 8 October.

Why are we doing it again? As said on the previous occasion:

To celebrate life!

To meet new people.

To recover from a hectic year.

We hope that this pilgrimage will be a spiritual journey into ourselves and into God. We hope to encounter God in a wonderful new way. If He dwells in us, why then go on a pilgrimage? It is in the crossing of boundaries, our own but also physical boundaries that God is experienced in new ways. So, we hope to return with new passion and new vigor. There is so much more to discover and experience.

"Ultreia, Suseia, Deus adjuva nos" Onwards, upwards, God with us!

DAY 11 ALPRIATE

Today is St James Day.
http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/spain/santiago-apostle
It is also the official opening of the Alberge Alpriate. I will leave today for Santarem and Tomar before I start my journey back home. This is most probably the last blog post.

Yesterday when having coffee at Maria's cafe, she invited me again to come and have supper. "We want to thank you for serving here without getting paid and on your time." What can I say? "Thank you", sometimes sounds so meaningless, fortunately when there is a language barrier "thank you" still has meaning.

Again, no pilgrims arrived. I accept it as part of my journey. Solitude is sometimes the most important part of our journey. It is not solitude that makes us depressed, it is loneliness. If you, however, are not used to solitude, which is part of the inward journey, you will most often feel lonely when by yourself. Silence-meditation is the school of solitude and the road away from loneliness.

This does not mean that I did not experience loneliness. There were times that I missed my family. The challenge is to embrace both solitude and loneliness. The more you venture inwards, the more the balance is restored.

DAY 10 ALPRIATE

It happened again, no pilgrims!

After cleaning I walked to the supermarket - fruit, wine and salmon. The rest of the day was spent reading, walking and talking to Jose in the wheelchair. At 19:00 I made the salmon with a tomato salad and bread on the side. I watched a movie on my phone and went to bed. As I said before, nothing glamorous about working in an Albergue.

There was an article in yesterdays' newspaper, "Beeld", that describes the camino very well and is worth the read.

Here the shootings in Europe are big news and constantly on TV. Africa does not exist and many people do not know whát South Africa is but conclude that it must be in the southern part of Africa. We met a number of people who lived in Angola or South Africa many years ago. No one has any intention of going to South Africa.

What I read about South Africa (the politics and violence) upsets me and angers me. Let me not make any comments about the leadership in SA. Let me, however, add, what I pick up on Facebook about the church (NG Kerk), saddens me. Looking from the outside, the church looks desperate. On the one hand it is the fight (it does not look like a debate, let alone a dialog) about gay people in the church and on the other hand all the "marketing" to get people to the Sunday sermon.

I do not see a drive by churches to get people involved in community life. I do not see I drive to be a witness of a loving God who cares about people (please take in mind this is my deduction from Facebook). I see churches who are kidnapped by  the same individualism that drives the economy and politics. It is a numbers game!

I have learnt on the camino that it does not matter whether you serve one person or ten, you serve them all as if it is Christ Himself you are serving.

(Maybe I am just depressed and miss my family. Kyrie Eleison!)

DAY 9 ALPRIATE

Fabrizio walked in at about 18:30. He is a professional photographer from Rome. I do not know why, but we almost immediately start to talk about religion. "I was Catholic, babtised, first confession and left it behind."

The conversation is one of those where you feel as if it can go on all night. From the moment he walked in, through dinner and when he woke up this morning we talked. Religion, faith, photography, politics (he tried to explain to me how the Catholic church, state, mafia and free masons are all intertwined in Italy - "That is why we are crazy!")

One thing I noticed on the Camino is how people are willing to listen to one another. One of the things we discussed is his reason for walking the Camino: "I am busy with an inward journey, I need to get rid of anger and pain." He is actually taking time out to do something about achieving real growth in his life.

How we (as Christians) have become almost obsessed with quick fixes. "Just confess your sins, Jesus is the answer!" Is this really a Biblical model for healing? Did Jesus not spend 3 years with his disciples and then another 40 days? Did God not decide we should spend 9 months in the womb and then another 9 months before we can start to try and walk?

Healing, being whole, takes time. Benedict realised this as well. In his rule, he describes how monks who erred should be treated. This takes time. As Chittirster comment; we do not want to be healed, we just want to feel better.

(I had to ask about his tattoo - same answer as all the others, difficult period in my life, decided to take action, this is to remind me.)

When Fabrizio left this morning, he said: "You must read the meditations of Marcus Aurelius. You really gave me a lot to think about."

Buen Camino Fabrizio!

DAY 8 ALPRIATE

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....