Last night, since my schedule was fairly open, while other pilgrims were at bars getting lit, I decided to go to the huge Cathedral of Saint Mary that was built in the 14th and 15th centuries. It has much history behind it. I’m not Catholic but I think we could and should learn some things from our Catholic friends. Well I was trying to decide whether or not to partake of communion. I finally decided that I would - my communion was with God, not a church. So at about the time I figured the elements would handed out, a lady with a basket began circulating around with what I thought was the bread. When she came to me, I reached in to take a piece of bread - the only problem was that it wasn’t bread! It was the offering. I jerked my hand out, not knowing how to even cover up my mistake. Well then the realization of my embarrassing move hit my funny bone and I started shaking, I was laughing so hard! To make it worse I had sat close to the front. I tried hard to not make a scene, but I’m afraid my mistake was discussed and laughed about later on. But when it finally came time to take communion, I was out of the mood. Silly pastor!
Many of you use the “find my” app on your phone. It allows you to track family members (or anybody that you give access to) to see your location based on your phone. I set my family up with this, just so I could prove that I was truly going to Spain and not Vegas. 😏 Well last evening I was walking the streets of Pamplona, and I got a text from my daughter Erica and she said Dad, are you at such and such a bar? I tried to convince her that I was just walking by it, but not sure if she believed me. 😂 But I truly was just passing by - I know YOU will believe me!
Today was supposed to be my “zero miles” day so my body could rest and recuperate some, but a lodging issue complicated that idea and it was easiest to move on to my next stop. But as I indicated yesterday, for this rest day I planned a shorter 11 mile day to not overdo it. Surprisingly, this was my first day on the Camino that I didn’t want to stop and lamented that I hadn’t booked a hostal a few miles further. But these days, finding a room is difficult and so I wasn’t going to take a chance on the room availability down the trail. This was the best I have felt on the Camino so far. I say this very guardedly, but I hope this means that my body is starting to accept the fact that this the new normal for the foreseeable future. It was interesting that a notification popped up on my phone during the night that said something like this: Your steps have dramatically increased over the past week! I wanted to respond back, “Thanks for noticing!”
For those of you who have been praying for the metatarsal bone that I broke in my left foot 2 and 1/2 weeks ago, thank you. It still hurts, it still swells, but it is no worse than the 100 other places I hurt. 😆 But thanks for praying - so far I am able to push through the discomfort.
I loved my two stops today. One was for coffee. Another one was at a food bus. It was so cool. Check out the pics below.
Always need a coffee stop mid-morning.
Not just a food truck - a food BUS with dining tables inside!
I didn’t follow my own advice that I gave in a previous blog. I told about the need to keep your eyes peeled for the Camino signs indicating you are still on the right trail. This morning when I left the privacy of my room with 27 roommates (haha), I was walking the 90 or so minutes to get out of Pamplona, a city larger than Springfield, I noticed a young lady close by. She said, “I’m really not trying to follow you; our pace just happens to be the same right now.”
We went through the typical progression in our conversation of asking the questions that we have already asked dozens of times such as, “Where are you from? What brought you to the Camino? What do you do for a living?”
In the course of the conversation, it came out that I was a pastor and she said, “My dad is a pastor as well.”
So we were just chit-chatting when all of a sudden, I realized I hadn’t seen a Camino sign for a while. The discussion around ministry and backgrounds had distracted us from the path. So I took out my phone with the app that gives my location in relation to the trail, and would you believe we were already off the trail by several blocks? It ended up being no big deal, just an extra 15 minutes of walking, but I got to thinking about life. How many times do we get distracted from The Path by good things? Sometimes the distraction comes from our job, sometimes it is the busyness of running kids to all of their activities. Sometimes it comes with just the different stress points of life. But if we are not careful, one day we can wake up to the fact that we are off track. So as you begin your week, my question is, have you gotten off track?
The trail I walked today is called the “trail of forgiveness”, but we all know that the trail of forgiveness goes by the cross and through the blood of Jesus. So if you need to adjust your course, go to His App and access his forgiveness and get back on the right track!
Goodbye to Pamplona
Perhaps one of my favorite sunrises of all time!
My 85-year-old friend from Japan - 10th time to walk the entire Camino.
My friend from Australia. Don’t be jealous of my hat!
Bikers come to this area to train for the Tour de France and other races.
My home for the night. Only 23 roommates this time!