Let me talk to you about something very important - the matter of coffee! More specifically let me talk to you about coffee in Spain on the Camino de Santiago. They get it! They know how to make a cup of coffee. It’s bold, and if you get it with steamed milk, it’s even beautiful! It’s everything coffee should be. But there is one major “fail” about the coffee on the Camino. They dispense coffee into cups the size of communion cups. They haven’t learned that a biblical cup of coffee should be at least a half a cubit or ephah or seah - actually I don’t think any of those measurements apply, 😆, but you know what I mean. Coffee needs to be dispensed in a mug big enough to taste. At my morning stop today, I ordered a cup of “café con leche” - coffee with milk, or we call it a latte. It was so good, but the small sample cup left me wanting more - way more!
So back to the Bodegas Irache wine fountain. If you haven’t read yesterday’s blog, this won’t make sense. But there I was on the historic Camino de Santiago being offered free wine at the wine fountain. And by now the crowd around the fountain had cleared. I was all alone! And as I looked around there were no “wine cams” to catch me in the act. All I had to do was turn the handle of the faucet. I could drink to my heart’s content - in fact since no one was watching, I could even fill up my water bottle with red wine. Not to mention the sign above the fountain said that if you want to arrive at the last city on the Camino with strength and vitality, then you needed to have some wine. And so I stepped up to fountain, I reached for the left faucet that dispensed the wine, I turned the handle and what do you think happened? Well, true story, it came out with such force that it got all over my pants! I shut it off as fast as I could. Yesterday I had mud on my pants. Today it is red wine! Goes well with my gray pants!
The wine reminded me of Jesus’ first miracle. Can you imagine how impressive that miracle must have been? And can you imagine how impressive that miracle would be today? I love Jesus miracles because his miracles were out-of-the ordinary. So knowing that he loves out-of-the-box miracles, something occurred to me. What if I/you would start praying for him to - not turn water into wine - but turn water into COFFEE here on the Camino. In fact if someone would like to call a prayer meeting at the church and ask Jesus to turn water into coffee where I am each day, I will personally see that you get a free specialty coffee from the church coffee shop!
So back to the wine fountain. I had wine running down my pants, but I lifted my hand once again to the faucet handle. This time I slowly and gradually turned the handle. I stopped it when it was a slow stream. I put my hand under the stream of wine. And then what do you think I then did? You want to know? Did I take a drink? No. (I don’t drink!) But I’ll tell you a secret. I didn’t drink it… instead, I licked it! Yep I did! I licked it off of my finger! 😝 Hopefully that will be enough to give me strength and vitality to finish the Camino. And now you know the rest of the story!
About today’s walk: Another early start gave me two hours on the trail without seeing one pilgrim. In fact in the 4.5 hour walk today, I think I only saw 5 total pilgrims. That’s not necessarily my goal - I like the first hour or two alone to listen to praise and worship music, listen to Scripture and pray, but then I am willing to be used to encourage other pilgrims as He sees fit. But there were very few that were on my particular part of the Camino.
Today, even though I spent time praying for my family, I felt the need to pray for myself. My dad’s journals were full of prayers for God to reveal any sin in him. I prayed that God would do the same for me. I want to be free of sinful attitudes and actions. I don’t want anything questionable in my life. It was a great time of prayer as God gently and lovingly showed me some things as He came and walked with me. I confessed and asked Him to help me overcome.
The trail today wasn’t super long and it was mainly flat, but for some reason my legs feel it more when there isn’t some up-and-down terrain to use different muscles. The trail today took me through more agricultural areas than the past week. While I was walking, it occurred to me that I hadn’t see any wildlife in the entire week I have been here. In Missouri, in terrain like this, we always see deer or other types of wildlife. Well, would you believe that shortly after thinking that, at about a distance of 300 yards, there was a doe and 2 fawns. They didn’t linger long, as they must not be as used to people as they are in Missouri.
Another incredible sunrise, steepled churches, and cloud formations caused me to stop many, many times to document the beauty. Maybe that should be your homework for today! Take some time, stop, drop what you are doing, and enjoy God’s creation right where you are! Thanks for joining me on the Camino!
Buen Camino.
Approximate total miles - 560
Approximate miles walked today - 12
Approximate miles remaining - 468