PC#25 – Today, something different…

Posted on by

Today is my 31st wedding anniversary, so I'm taking the day off.

I would like to do something different though. I would like to ask Sister Clare to choose a topic to discuss, or a question to ask, and throw this blog open to you guys.

Right now, I have to go out and buy some flowers…

Bill

(Sister Clare, this photo is for you!)

 

 

79 thoughts on “PC#25 – Today, something different…”

  1. I love this prayer I found today… I think it works here:

    Prayer

    JUNE 30, 2013

    Lord, strengthen our resolve
    to follow when the way is hazy
    and our footsteps are not secure.
    Strengthen our understanding
    and acceptance that revelation
    is a process of discovering,
    choosing, and following you
    wherever we are in our day, in our life.
    And should we struggle with taking that first step,
    assure us that we need but move forward
    one step at a time in response to your call.
    —The Jesuit Prayer Team
    Must be that first step… Yikes!

    Like

    • Thank you Peter! I was working through some fears I had the last few days about my knees holding up and that my balance might be an issue in some places along the Camino. I had to remind myself that my fears can create reality and ask myself if I really wanted to create those issues for myself on the Camino. The answer if course is no. So I prayed and asked that those fears be removed. I also created a mental picture of myself gracefully walking the trail. So that when the fears kick in I can replace them with a positive image. I need but take the first step and the another……..

      Like

      • Karen, while its true that we often invite to ourselves exactly what we experience, this is something I was shown once that helpex me get my fears under control.(for the most part) Its a breakdown of the word itself,so:
        F: false
        E:expectations
        A: appearing
        R: real

        Most

        Like

      • Munch munch thanks WordPress. Ahem.
        Most fear is of a future possible event. Realising that no matter how amazing we are, not many of us can successfully predict our future events. That’s where the false expectation comes in…we may be fearing something that will never, can never, happen. Its imagination projected into the world- a false reality.
        At this point,.my fear dissipates into a.mist….

        Like

  3. As someone who celebrated his 31st wedding anniversary last Thursday, I congratulate you and your wife. My wife and I are thrilled to be able to bring forward our Camino Frances to September this year, just a little over 8 weeks away. Thanks also for the information on WordPress, I have just bought a book to customise our experimental site, currently at caminoourway.wordpress.com. Enjoy your anniversary, Peter

    Like

  5. OK FAMILY!!!!!
    Since we opened with that lovely prayer (thank you!) and Bill posted the Christ of Divine Mercy, heres the question for the day:
    Some pilgrims go to the Camino to enrich their established spirituality; others to find theirs; many go just to see what might be discovered.
    If you are a person of faith, how did your Camino affect your spirituality. Did it enrich your relationship with God?By person of faith, I don’t mean necessarily Christian. Whatever your faith, Buddhist, Hindu, Bah’ai,Judaism, Islam, Wiccan…….same question.

    If you are not a believer,did you come away with any insights about yourself, the universe, Creation,the human race?And, I don’t mean necessarily a conversion experience-any insight you consider spiritual in nature.

    Finally, have you ever had a personal “spiritual experience”?Mystical as opposed to psychic?

    Like

    • Whoa Sister – what a GREAT QUESTION!

      I’ll check in during the day and I’ll be fascinated to see the responses you get.

      Thank you!

      Bill

      Like

      • Bill, GO BUY FLOWERS AND CELEBRATE WITH JEN.WE WILL BE FINE.SEE YOU TOMORROW.
        HAPPY ANNIVERSAY.
        If you spend the day checking your blog instead of wrapping your wife in your arms, I think Jen should have permission to smack you, albeit in an affectionate way.

        Like

    • Ok Sister, btw, re your PGS comment regarding the socks…. I have no secrets from Bill…. 😉 and what a question…. now this one truly will need a bit of soul searching to give a response. But in short – Yes and Yes. Ingrid

      Like

    • Dear Sister,

      Well, here I go.

      Yes, I consider myself a person of faith. I was brought up Catholic and love my faith. I embarked on the Camino for two reasons, the first was to hopefully find home. By that I mean my place of abode; I had moved from the NY/NJ area to Tucson, AZ in 2007 and was not happy with my choice of place to live, I missed and still miss my friends and family very much. So I wanted to walk the Camino for guidance from God as to where home actually should be. My second reason was to hopefully find who Arlene truly is.

      As I said in a reply to Bill’s blog the other day, God walked every step of the Camino with me. He dried my tears when I thought I could not go another step further. He brought others down the path when I was feeling exceptionally lonely. He allowed me to see the person I have grown up to be, through his eyes not those of others who might judge me. He also gave me the great gift of forgiving myself for mistakes I have made.

      He did not, while we walked the Camino answer my question of where is home. He waited for the morning after my return to answer that one. After a wonderful night sleep in my own bed, I stumbled to the kitchen, made a cup of coffee and opened the window blinds. Right outside my kitchen window was the answer to where home should be. There was the most glorious sunrise I have ever seen rising above the Rincon Mountains, and that was the answer God sent me. Tucson is home for now!

      Oh, yes, my faith has been deepened by walking the Camino. And yes, I consider walking with God and the gift he showed me as my personal spiritual experience.

      Like

      • Isn’t it wonderful how God is always right beside us, sharing our tears and joys, helping us find answers?I find I can no longer imagine my life without the constant Presence of God. It breaks my heart to meet people who think God sends down deliberate tragedy and suffering. They haven’t realised that God isn’t up in heaven flinging lightning, He is right next to you, sharing your troubles, or sorrows, or joys!
        What had made you choose Arizona originally?Have you found friends or a faith family?

        Like

        • My parents had moved to Arizona in the 70’s and I had visited many, many times. For a retired person (although I do work now) Arizona was a lower cost-of-living decision. My parents had both passed away long before I moved here but I thought this could be a great place to start a retired life – the pace is a lot slower and the weather is nicer than in the NY Metro area.

          I have a few friends here mostly because I now work but nothing like the friends I left behind. And as far as a faith family, I do attend mass on the Indian reservation, San Xavier which is one of the original mission churchs of Fr. Kino.

          Like

          • May I ask if you are happy?What are your plans for the future now that you have found home?

            Like

          • I wouldn’t say happy, Sister. I would say content.
            Future plans include walking the Camino again this year and travelling back to the East Coast to visit family and friends. Plans are already in the making to walk the Camino del Norte during the fall of 2014.
            I don’t know if I will stay in Arizona. But I do know I will not sell my house just yet. The market is still too low for that. So I will reassess once the housing market gets closer to what I purchased at. Right now, I am content with knowing that I have options, and for the time being I am where I am supposed to be.

            Like

          • Happy is a misunderstood state, I think. Content is good!Thats where we are with a sense of security, a sense of place and purpose. Happiness is for the most part, a choice, I think.We expect it to fall .into our lap and wonder if we’ll ever be happy. But I think its a choice you have to make every day.You have to work at it from the moment you wake up to the end of the day, and only you can be responsible for your own happiness. Its not a thing someone can “make” you. Like love, it has to be a verb..

            Like

          • I am catching up late today. Sister, I am not sure that I have ever been truly happy or truly content but for brief periods in my life. I think that is part of why I walked the Camino, seeking any answers that might come to me. Honestly, none did, but I am still seeking. As I think you know, my dad was a Methodist minister, but I don’t care for organized religion. On the other hand, I definitely believe that something or someone way bigger than any of us had to have created this wondrous place where we live. This didn’t just happen. I have had incredible highs in my life and incredible lows. It has never been a life of smooth sailing. I was either on the crest of the wave or in the trough. That’s not all bad. It has been a life lived, but has it been a meaningful life. Honestly, I think not. So here I am at 71 years old trying to find myself. I don’t know for sure where my home is, I don’t know for sure the state of my marriage, I don’t even know for sure my financial wherewithal, though I think it is OK, i.e. there are a lot of uncertainties in my life, but I am able to live a life without expectation like I have said in earlier postings. I guess I had to get lost before I could begin to find myself, and that is OK also. Jill brought the Camino to my attention and we decided to walk it. As I mentioned, part of my reason at the time was it might help she and I get back together, though I decided to leave that one up to God by the time we left. Interestingly, it has brought us closer again, though neither of us know exactly what that will mean. Then Bill came into my life on the 12th day of his posting, and then all of you have come into my life. There is a lot of wisdom tossed around this blog and I am grateful that I have been able to be a part of it, actually one of the early followers. I think I am trying to find purpose and meaning in my life as it exists today. It is not an easy quest. And it is somewhat sad to wake up at this age and realize that those two things might be missing, are missing. I am involved with this blog for a reason. I have read every post and every comment since starting way back on April 22 or thereabout. I walked the Caminio with an open heart and an open mind. It obviously was a powerful experience. Did I have a revelation from it? No. But I think I did get more in touch with myself and just the ability to spend six weeks more or less in introspective thinking was a great treat. Never happens here, though living alone for the foreseeable future will provide more of that. Thanks to all of the contributors on this blog. You never know when you will reach out and touch someone. Steve

            Like

          • Steve, I can certainly relate to a life of ups and downs. But when I wonder what the alternative is, maybe its not bad at all. People say they just want to be satisfied, but for me, if I am satisfied, I am still,not growing or learning, not being affected by others, having no dreams or goals. Being satisfied is to stay as I am in all things-and to never have discontent or challenge in my day, I might as well be dead. That to me describes a satisfied life-stagnant. The search for meaning makes me alive, and the search for purpose keeps me interacting with others.I wonder, when you say you haven’t been able to find meaning, what does ‘meaning’ mean to you?When you find it, how do you think.your life will be better?What will change? If its thinking that happiness will fall from the sky, what ishappiness?As I’ve said, happiness is a choice and a lot of work.But under those terms, we can all find annd keep it.

            Like

          • And I also think being able to live without expectation is extremely meaningful.

            Like

    • Hmmm! very good questions Sister. I need to think about how to answer and how much I can answer on a public form. I will get back to you.
      Emily

      Like

      • Take your time, Emily, and enjoy the question. There’s no judgement here, no one is going to tell you whether what you believe or experience is true or not. The only thing that matters is what’s true to you.

        Like

    • I am going to answer without reading ahead first….I have not gone on the Camino yet, but reading about it, watching The Way, and most of all, participating in this extraordinary blog “family” (I like the sound of that!) has tugged on my spirituality in a way that hasn’t happened since my children were born. (Well, maybe also when my grandchildren were born…) Even just reading about the Camino, the lessons you all learned, and feeling, literally FEELING the connection among pilgrims is working to create a pilgrim spirit within me. The holiness of others’ journeys is contagious….those of you who have walked, and especially Bill here, who bared his soul to the world, are like pebbles thrown in a pond. Because you went and because you *shared* your experiences with such honesty, others like myself are enriched….and the lives of those around us are affected too. Example: Bill, after I read your story about your son and the burned pot I had a close call with temper also……and I was able to stop, at least that once, and say to myself….you are a pilgrim….So, the depth and breadth of each perigrino/a’s experience is theoretically endless….if we share what we learn………….Ok, now I will read all of your comments! Thank you Sister!

      Like

      • No, Julie-thank you!Its because of people like you who are willing to open up and share your stories that we have this blog family here. With open hearts like yours, and talent and generosity like Bills we’ve been blessed with this honest, fun and meaningful place. I feel so lucky to know each and every one of you, and being able to come here is the highlight of my day.

        Like

    • Dear Sister –

      The next time Bill gives you the helm, I hope you ask a simpler question! I could give you the “whole story”, and you are welcome to it via PM in the event that you are susceptible to insomnia and need a sure cure.

      My Camino was “accidental” – yeah, right! About a year ago I just wanted a long walk to clear my mind in unfamiliar surroundings. I had not thought of the Camino in years – didn’t really know it existed anymore – I’m Catholic (practicing, but not an exemplar), heavily trained in the natural sciences with minors in history and philosophy. It was a weird set of circumstances at the travel agents’ office that opened the Way to me.

      You have earlier remarked on the “frankness” of a reply of mine – sorry, but that’s just Asperger’s kicking in – no offense meant. (I was diagnosed three times on the Camino. It is amazing to me how many psychotherapists/psychologists/psychiatrists one runs into on the Camino.) But anyway – background done – here’s my answer to your question.

      1. I now see miracles everywhere.
      2. To me a good life is about gratitude for what one has, and yet, I’m looking to be satisfied with less.
      3. “Love is the only engine of salvation.” (I believe that quote is from Leonard Cohen, a fellow Canadian of yours. We have to give credit to Jesus for the original version though!)

      The “life result” for me?

      a. I received peace about the past but not clarity/confidence for the future. I was not ready for all the lessons the Camino had to teach me but my first walk helped me unload all sorts of toxicity from the past. I’m very comfortable in my own skin and clearer on where I screw up.

      b. I’m going back to see what I can glean regarding the “future”. My post-Camino mindset is a bit discomfiting to my clients. My next professional “re-invention” has to incorporate lessons learned.

      That’s enough for a post, I think.

      B

      Like

      • I’m so glad you posted and shared your remarkable story. I wondered if anyone would be writing in about a “cleansing” walk.How exactly did you end up on the Camino?I love when a series of events that seem to just fall from the sky work together to bring you to a life changing place. Its happened to me three times, and I still am amazed by it.I wouldn’t stress over attaining clarity for the future.It hasnt happened, so there is very little to hone in on, but it sounds like at this moment you have the start of a sense about it.
        I am a career insomniac, and would love it if you want to PM me. I can’t promise to fall asleep, though.Thank you for taking so much time over a really interesting response.

        Like

  7. 31st wedding anniversary!! Congratulations to you and your wife. I spent my 31st anniversary this past May watching my hubby do his final pack check the night before his flight to Madrid and his first Camino. He was just a bit distracted…..

    Like

    • Did it bother you that he spent your anniversary thinking about the trip, instead, perhaps of you?

      Like

        • Its great you can laugh about it!Did he bring you something from Spain?And, may I ask why you chose not to walk together?

          Like

  8. He brought me a few fun things including a scallop shell. We’ll be walking together in 2014. I’ve been fighting to keep my job this past year (US budget sequestration related) so it was best I didn’t go this year.

    Like

    • I wish you the best with your job. The economy is hard everywhere, so many people suffering after working their behinds off all their lives. Its wonderful you have a shared Camino to look forward to. Perhaps it will send you the next life step while you are walking.

      Like

  9. Oh, shucks, it’s my birthday today and I HAVE to go spend time with my other family, so can’t really even read all this wonderful stuff. Congratulations, Bill and Jen on what have obviously been 31 pretty great year and yes, Bill, do stay away for the day! Can’t wait to check in again in a couple of days to read all your innermost thoughts. My thoughts are certainly with you as I hurl myself into the Sydney traffic!!

    Like

    • Please don’t discount that other family, the familiar one who may through familiarity seem humdrum. Of course I’m just guessing, but assume the reference is to the biological family. They are also God-given and will bring precious moments until your dying breath. We deal with members of that family nearby all our lives– good times and bad. This computer family we are all gaining so much from in the sharing is certainly precious and my stay so, but when we don’t want to deal with it, we can just shut the computer. 🙂

      I hope you had/have a most joyful, loving, and precious birthday evening!Hurl yourself? No lack of energy there! Have a wonderful rest of your life.

      Like

      • Bill and Jen,
        31 years is a blessing and quite an accomplishment. Happy anniversary to you both and may the next 31 and counting be even better. Bill you talk about Jen so much and with such love, perception and admiration, it’s clear she is a guiding light in your life. I feel as if I hear her comments, too, as you share her with us. That is a lovely gift.

        Like

        • Dear Barbara, that is a beautiful and perceptive thing to say, thank you!

          yes, you’re absolutely right about Jen being my guiding light. On the Camino we talked three times a day, every day – when I was setting off in the morning (about midday her time), then about lunchtime my time, (about 6pm her time), then before she went to bed – about 2pm – 3pm my time.

          Often I’d ask her advice on what I should post that evening on the blog – often we’d talk through the themes, and yes, I’d get her input. We don’t often disagree on things, and because she is more esoterically literate than me, she would often give me another perspective on a particular subject.

          She is a deeply spiritual person, and yet she had no desire to walk the Camino. She wanted me to do the Camino by myself. She felt it was important for me to be alone. And she was right.

          As she is with most things!

          Thank you again.

          By the way, I read out your post to her, and she said that you and she must be connected energetically…

          Bill

          Like

      • Dear Barbara, thanks for your thoughts and sorry, I was of course just a bit flippant and I would never discount my extraordinary lovely son and daughter-in-law who treated me to a fantastic meal and even better, time to exchange news of our day-to-day lives. That – time – to me is more precious that anything you can buy for money!!

        Like

        • I didn’t mean to reprimand you or put you on the spot .(I’m a Mom and former teacher.) I figured it was said somewhat in fun. I guess these last 10 years when I’ve had primary responsibility for Mom and Dad and now just Mom,( with loving support from my Steve and our sister), Lynn, I’ve just become really, really conscious of how much family matters. When my children were growing up, I stay so involved with that fast paced life (kids, marriage, teaching and grad school), I didn’t stop and savor what we have. Now my kids have kids and so, while we are in touch, it’s not the day to day closeness it was when they were little. And when our kids were little, Steve, Lynn and I enjoyed each other, but far more rarely and at greater distance. Now with Dad gone and Mom 96 and thankfully quite alert, interesting and healthy, I get a very close up look at the preciousness of family. Why me? I’m the oldest, divorced– so single, and lived just 186 miles from their home, which they shared until Dad died in 2010 and we moved Mom in with me. Steve has her with him for a week in Henderson just now. He and Lynn take turns taking her home for a monthly visit. I may have said this before. It’s just that these circumstances just make me more aware of what I took for granted for so many years. Such is the ebb and flow of life, so I just had to get in a word for he preciousness of family.

          I’m glad you had a great evening and wish you many, many more precious moments.

          Like

  10. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BILL AND JEN!
    Fear gets played out in my life as anger, frustration and anxiety, It is often hard to notice that it is fear. And when we really examine our fears they are usually so basic it is almost silly. The antidote to fear is being Love and Trust.

    Like

    • Oh 100% yes.The light and power of Love can chase even our worst fears away.Its such a liberating feeling to be able to laugh at the same thing that had you quaking a day ago!Although we have to be sensitive still to the fears of others, because for a lot of people, fear manifests as depression.

      Like

  11. Bill, I have been away all day. Just catching up. Congratulations on 31 years, and wish you and Jen many more happy returns. That is a pretty good achievement on both of your parts. Steve

    Like

  13. Bill, hope you and Jen had an awesome day!! Tomorrow my husband and I will be married twenty years!! We have been on a trip for a couple weeks and I haven’t been on as much as I would have liked and I am so pleased you are still blogging!!

    50,000 hits!! I would have to say I added quite a few of those clicks!! Please continue!!

    Debbie

    Like

    • Hi Debbie – thank you for your well wishes!

      Jen and I are just back from one of the wineries here in town – or at least just out of town. Mudgee is a terrific winegrowing area – and we went and bought a bottle of White Port. This is something I discovered in Portugal. I’d never heard of White Port before. I thought it only ever came in the Tawny variety. But there’s a winery here that specialises in it. Had a tasting and it was beautiful.

      I came back and just checked Sister Clare’s “ratings” so far today. 🙂

      According to the WordPress stats, the blog today has already attracted more than 500 page views. And that’s only up to 1pm our time.

      So Sister, your ratings are spectacular. You might even go into a second season!

      🙂

      Bill

      Like

  14. Sister, I hope to run into you on the Camino September – October 2014!! I think this group of people who have been following Bill and Steve’s Blogs are here for a reason and you are a big part of this wonderful ride we are are part of!!

    These two blogs have expanded my mind and heart to be more inspired by the little things, things I would not have take notice of in the past for my walk. It has developed an awareness that brings new challenges and produces more layers for my experience!

    Thank you for making this so special!!

    Debbie

    Like

    • Debbie, that’s a really sweet thing to say-thank you! Wouldn’t it be great to.spend some time on the Camino together?Id love to match up some faces and names…and stories!

      Like

  15. Dear Sister, one yes is easier to answer than the second one and both are a work in progress.

    As a child growing up in Austria, I was very much involved with my catholic faith, something that came natural and not entirely promoted by my parents. There is much I did not understand as a child, that of course is much clearer now. Moving to Canada 40 years ago, lapsed my engagement with the church, but not my faith.

    On my pilgrimage I found myself drawn to every church, especially the smaller ones in the villages, they are simple and serene and old with an energy that is electrifying (sadly many of the smaller ones are locked), but I always stopped and never missed a pilgrims mass. I sometimes joked and said, since in Spain, I have made up for all the years I did not go to church. This was not something I had set out to do, it just happened. Somehow, I felt at home, especially in Galicia. I found it fascinating that one finds a blend of Christian/Moorish/pagan symbols side by side and considering my ancestry, that made me feel very much welcome. I would go ahead of mass to sit through the rosary which is prayed beforehand. It was a very zen like experience, the constant murmur of the congregation praying, and pretty soon I too joined in the prayer – in Spanish. I don’t speak Spanish, but I prayed Spanish. So yes, I felt closer to God, and it felt right, not artificial, just good, soothing and peaceful.

    As to the second yes, that one is a bit tricky. I am an only child to a healer and a story teller. Both gifts I inherited. On my mother’s side I have documented ancestry back to the 1600th, on my father’s side it is what I call cellular ancestral knowledge and child hood dreams. The healer gift, passes from daughter to daughter (my daughter is a nurse,) and my father’s gift is difficult to trace but with a powerful presence on the Camino.

    My father died when I was 21, a year after I arrived in Canada, my mother passed in 2005. 2011, I was summoned by their attorney in my birth town. I was handed a box and the contents blew open doors tightly shut and ultimately compelled me to walk the Camino. A quest, that too, is still in progress.

    There is a beautiful quote by Linda Hogan, a Native American writer –
    “Walking, I am listening to a deeper way. Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me. Be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands”.

    Once I entered the oak forest on the way from Roncesvalles to Espinal and came to the White Cross – I never walked alone.

    Childhood nightmares, vividly emerged and a long forgotten lullaby, which I thought to have been sung by my mother, actually was my father’s and carried me along to Muxia – and revealed it’s meaning and source.

    Pamplona and everyone is rushing to the cathedral for the investiture of a new bishop of Spain… I stumble and my chain holding my father’s celtic cross, my mother’s charm of the Madonna of Lourdes, the turtle given by a native wisewomen, breaks and as I hurry to find all the pieces, a wooden cross is offered by another helping hand. I look up, to thank the person – there is no-one there – now my chain also contains a Tau.

    To say that my Camino was a spiritual journey is an understatement. I am still working through a lot of things that I experienced, but the need to find the ultimate answer is no longer important. I was blessed with many gifts on the Camino, but most importantly, I walked back to myself. I am happy and very content and grateful and I feel loved.

    Light and Love, Ingrid

    Like

    • What beautiful reflections, Ingrid. I love the Linda Hogan quote. It is truly a Camino quote. I too would like to go to mass every day. I too love the rosary…easiest way to calm the mind before bed at night for me. My rosary is from the National Shrine in Washington DC, a gift from my husband and oldest daughter; and it was taken to Medjugorje to be blessed. I take it with me everywhere and will take it on my Camino. Hmmm I wonder how much it weighs? 😉

      Like

    • Ingrid, what a marvellous story-and how joyful to have reconnected so intimately with your anscestral past, the spirits and voices, even the music that has echoed through your spirit all your life. “You are the result of the love of thousands”-powerful, beautiful words. Can you imagine how many broken lives could be transformed by knowing the truth of those words?How perfect that they are passed to me by a healer!Some of your story makes me think.of my own distant past. The native woman who gave you the turtle totem-My great great grandfather married a Salish healer-woman, and because of her, I am turtle clan.The hand that passed a wooden cross, but wasn’t really there. The Camino wrapped its arms around you to welcome you home, I think.Thank you for sharing your blessed story. I will remember it a long time.

      Like

      • Thank you Sister, somehow I had a feeling you would not be surprised by my story. The turtle totem is very powerful and sacred and wise. Bill’s next blog of Stop, Listen…. is so fitting. I should have stopped and listen closer to when a turtle was staring me in the face in Carrion de los Condes. The next day rushing off into the Calzada Romana, I might have skipped some of the usual care I took each day on the Camino… and that is when I sustained my injury. Who knows, if I had listened, things would have been different… I just wanted to get as quickly as possible out of the Meseta. I did NOT like it there. For me it was like walking through a dark wind tunnel and hard to breath, everything was coming to a head. Ding and ding and ding, like being hit on the head to clear the cobwebs… the Camino provides what you need most and I needed to slowwww down. All the signs had been there. The teacher will appear when the student is ready.. how often do we hear this. Well, there was no escaping the lessons from then on.

        Ingrid

        Like

        • Ingrid, do you find that you do better close to.water?As more at peace, creative, just generally clearer?

          Like

        • Ingrid, do you find that you do better close to.water?As more at peace, creative, just generally clearer?
          There is a large freshwater marsh about 200 meters from my door-and its full of turtles. The painted turtles, snapper, (there is one judging by size that is about75 yrs old. A big cranky dinosaur, who for some reason has a very large,but healed hole in the crown of the shell. It looks like someone shot him at fairly close range.He is wonderful, ugly and majestic. There is so much water where I live that each spring the turtles come out to cross the road and lay their eggs. Some drivers think its sport to hit them,so I began to pull over every time I saw one, and help it across the road. Now theres a turtle-crossing road sign, and I see many people stop and help them cross the road.Its kind of heartwarming to see they have learned to care.

          Like

  16. Can I ask, if you are planning on going on the Camino in the future, when are you going? It would be nice to have a “calendar” of people’s intentions. I was going to go this August, but time is getting gobbled up quickly. But late next summer/early fall looks better.

    Like

    • Julie, the sequence of these posts is a bit mixed up. May I suggest that you specify the name of the person you are asking?I don’t want to see you left hanging in the air because of some confusion.

      Like

  17. Dear Sister, yes and to expand a bit further, I am a water dragon according to Chinese horoscope, and a Libra by our standards. My prime core value is tolerance, so keeping it all balanced is interesting at times. So last year (waterdragons only come around every 60 years), I was all fire and water, but in general the turtle and the dragon got along well ;-).

    In case the question regarding re walking again was addressed to me as well, my wish is to spend 3 months in Spain, walking a few shorter Caminos, especially in Galicia and serve as hospitalera in a few places. Probably July, August, September.

    Like

    • In the Chinese system I’m a monkey, with Virgo. But I think the turtle overrides that a bit. Monkey-flavoured turtle?
      Your trip this year sounds perfect. I hope to go in fall 2014, but their are some things that will have to work out, first. I believe the Camino has called, and since for me part of pilgrimage is glorifying God, I trust all will be provided. That I can’t see how yet adds to the anticipation and sense of adventure. I hope to spend two months, possibly a bit more, as there is some teaching I was asked to do while there. Those are just a few more tiny details, but there is lots of time-and when my foot heals, I need to start training.

      Like

      • 2014 as well, I omitted the year in my post. Keeping a promise to stay close to home this year. So if you are walking in September 2014, I will still be in Spain and who knows, the turtle and the monkey might just meet. I want to check up on your socks! 😉

        Like

  19. Finally catching up after a few days away.
    A belated but very happy anniversary Bill and Jen. Every year together is special, but 31 years of shared love, memories, joy, achievements, blessings and hope calls for a special celebration.
    July 4th holds great significance for our family as my in laws, who are now with God, were married on 4th July, 1942. They shared 66 years together. I never once heard them say a cross word to each other.
    Blessings and Congratulations,
    Anne

    Like

  20. Sister, as you may be aware, I am yet to set foot on the Camino, but I leave Australia on 21st September.
    Why am I going? Cannot find words to explain, but it has been calling me for 10 years, since I taught at St James School. As I tried to tell someone, ” in losing myself, I hope to find myself.” It is an opportunity for me, as a Catholic educator, to take some time to refresh my own spirituality and ” revive my drooping spirit” ( in the words of a well known hymn”.) I am very fortunate in that my Camino is recognised as personal renewal by my employer.

    This blog, started by Bill, has already provided a wonderful opportunity to review my thoughts and ideas and examine what I am doing. Your spiritual insights have been invaluable. For this, I thank you, Sister.
    I am not sure that I will find my answers, but at least I will have lots of questions!!!
    Blessings
    Anne

    Like

    • Anne, what kind words. And please, keep those questions coming! I have always felt strongly that I was led to Bill and his blog,so I am just thrilled to be here, and willing to answer as many questions as you would like to ask

      Like

Comments are closed.