One thing I have to hand to the Spanish people is that they are incredibly creative when it comes to their bathroom signage! Since I know I can trust you with my secrets and I’m confident that you won’t tell a soul, I will admit that at times I have had to study the little pictures and try to figure out which best represents my gender. But then sometimes still not knowing for sure, I will confidently march in through one of the doors; I sure don’t want to act like I don’t know what I am. And of course the chances are pretty good of choosing the right WC — which is what they are called here — you have a 50-50 chance of getting it right!
Well, a couple of days ago, (yeah, some of you are already anticipating the next part of this story), I studied the little pictures and I made my educated guess. But when I went in, the stall was locked and obviously some guy was in there. I waited and waited. Well, finally I could hear things were being wrapped up in there and soon the guy started to come out. But, you guessed it, it wasn’t a guy! My 50-50 chance had landed on the wrong side!
She looked at me, I looked at her. We kindly greeted each other. I should have said Buen Camino, but I was too rattled to think of anything really intelligent to say. But then the dilemma for me was, “What do I do now?”
Well as that old Gospel song says, “I’ve gone too far to turn back now”, I marched right on in! But again, I know you will keep this all in confidence!
It’s bad when I’m losing the race to a snail
The past three days have been fairly heavy; I have averaged a little over 16 miles per day. When I looked at today’s stage and saw it was only a little over 11 miles, I smiled and thought to myself, “Great timing!” — especially since I had to walk into the city of Leon, a city of 130,000 people, which, again, means that including today, coming into the city, and tomorrow as I leave, I will have around three hours walking in the city. That adds extra wear and tear on the ankles, shins, and knees. But I was grateful for a little bit of a shorter day today.
Leon
The city of Leon (means Lion) is a very historic city. Most people take a rest day or two here to explore, but I got here by 10:30 this morning and will do my exploring this afternoon and evening. One of the main attractions is the cathedral of Leon. In fact out of the dozens if not hundreds of cathedrals on the Camino de Santiago, this cathedral is ranked as one of the three most important cathedrals! I have to say that it is impressive! There is no way to completely capture the architectural elegance with pictures.
That causes me to bring up something that has been troubling me throughout this trip, and that is the matter of the decline of the church. Let me try to explain. As I have walked through dozens and dozens of villages and towns on the Camino, the common denominator is that every town has at least one church, and sometimes multiple churches. When I say church, I’m referring to Catholic churches.
Now what I’m about to say is not an indictment against the Catholic Church. I have some Catholic friends who are reading this blog, and want to make it clear that we Protestants are not faring any better. It is said that around 4,500 Protestant churches close their doors every year in the US. But it is concerning that many of the churches that I’ve gone by while walking the Camino are closed. There are others that have their doors open, but only if you pay a fee to get in — it has become more like a museum. We know that at one time the church was a vital part of the community. Even as a person who would not identify as a Catholic, it does sadden me to see the decline of the church. It saddens me to see these historic structures with the doors locked shut.
It also saddens me to see our Protestant churches closed. Once the church ceases to be a life-giving part of the community, then who and what will help set the conscience for that community? As a pastor, it has caused me to pray — and I would ask you to join me in this prayer — “Lord, help our church to stay relevant and alive and make our community a better place!”
Okay, that was heavy! As I began this blog on the lighter side, let me end on the lighter side. There are only 6 beds in my room tonight, which means only 5 roomies! Yay. But here is the kicker! All 5 roomies are women! Yikes. I asked if there was another room available and they said they are totally booked. How do I get myself in such jams? Y’all pray for me! 😂
Buen Camino!
Storks love to nest on steeples. Notice the top of a stork’s head in this photo.
Approximate total miles: 560
Approximate miles walked today: 11
Approximate remaining miles: 267