Day 389 - A special encounter.

Even though I've never set foot on the Camino de Santiago in Spain, I have to admit that I've become somewhat of a Camino-junkie. As time passes and my departure date draws nearer, albeit at a snail's pace, I can't help but feel more and more drawn to this journey that awaits me.

Someone like Ermanno Aiello certainly  fuels the fire. He took to the road in Spain in April and May 2007 at the age of 69. Meeting him a few weeks ago was a very special occasion for me and if I was wondering if I was expecting too much from the journey I'm planning, he certainly confirmed to me that I am in for the walk of my life!

When Ermanno returned from his camino, he was persuaded by many of his friends and family members to put it all down on paper and he decided to write and self-publish his book, titled 'Forever a Pilgrim'.

I was fortunate enough to buy the last copy of his current print. This book has since become one of my most prized possessions and I treasure the lovely message that he wrote in there for me - sending me on my own camino armed with blessings from a deeply religious pilgrim!

Ermanno has given me permission to quote from his book and I would like to share with you some of his experiences in the next few weeks.

For those of you who are new to the blog and not quite familiar with the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage - click on the link at the top right hand side of this page titled ' History of the Camino...'. This summary will give you an idea of what it's all about. Even though the Camino was started by the Catholic church, it is certainly not only Catholics who walk it today. In fact, some people simply walk it as a hike of sorts but it seems to me that the majority of pilgrims actually do it for reasons much deeper than just that.

Personally, I have walked a much more focused road with the Lord these past three years and I am experiencing a very strong calling to this pilgrimage. Something about leaving all the luxuries of the world behind and just walking for miles and miles, with the freedom to devote hours to the Lord in contemplation, seems like a gift too great to pass by!

Ermanno the pilgrim - can that smile be any broader?

To start off, here is a quote from the book - this piece illustrates one of the gifts of the Camino - silence of a different kind.

' In wild and beautiful Galicia with its magnificent forests, mountains,countless streams, farms and fickle weather I experienced a different type of silence. The weather kept reminding me that, like life,there is no permanent silence and that if I needed silence I would have to create it within myself. Amazingly so, I managed this very well - eventually being able to find the silence (and with it the much needed solitude) that I craved for at will.'

 ' This silence and solitude led me to deeper and deeper introspection. The analysis of my life up to then, with all its good and bad times, my periods of moving away from my faith and the subsequent return to it, the successes and failures of my career, the value of my loved ones, especially my wife Lia, led me to the realization that my life had always been and always will be for a purpose only known to God. I do not need to know that purpose - that will be revealed to me when I am finally with Him - all I need to know is that I am of value to Him as I am and that I will do my utmost to fulfil whatever purpose He still has for me. This knowledge filled me with such peace.'

Since I made the decision to walk the Camino, countless people who are somehow connected to it have crossed my path. Each and every one of them has added value to my life. Sitting down for coffee with someone like Ermanno Aiello, a man who rejoices in his relationship with his creator, is very special. When you're in the presence of someone who loves and adores the Lord, the feeling is tangible. You can't mistake the warmth, the joy and the peace that fills that person. I felt all of this from the first minute I met this man and praise God for sending people to guide me along this road. A road that I am so happy to be on!

And thank you Ermanno. Thank you for being obedient. Thank you for sharing your beliefs, your experiences (good and bad!) and most of all, for proclaiming everything that the Lord God has done for you!

For those of us, like me, who are in our infant stages as Christians, your guidance is a blessing beyond words!

Day 221 - Yet another Camino gift.

Today I received yet another Camino gift. Coffee with a pilgrim.

And affirmation in abundance (yet again!), that the call of the Camino is something to be taken note of.

Ermanno Aiello walked his camino in April and May of 2007. Today, four years after the experience, he is still overwhelmed by emotion when he recalls some of the truly special moments he had during those weeks in Spain.

I feel truly blessed by these encounters that I have with people who have answered the call of the Camino and so graciously share their experiences and emotions. Ermanno wrote a book about his journey, entitled 'Forever a Pilgrim' and I finally got my own copy from him today.

He has very kindly allowed me to quote from his book, just like Tony Kevin did and I can't wait to share bits and pieces with you in the weeks to come.

Together with Jeremiah's journal, Ermanno and Tony's recollections and the updates I'm receiving from friends on the Camino right now, I almost feel as if I'm already there myself!

For now, I'd like to leave you with the prayer Ermanno shared with me today - it really is one of the most beautiful prayers I've ever heard and so representative of what I hope to bring home from my own camino.

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen

Day 38 - Of talks, pilgrims, hikes and pictures!

This is my friend Christi - photographed earlier this year on her camino in Spain. If Christi hadn't made a decision four years ago to walk the camino, I might still not have known that there was such a thing as the Camino de Santiago!

My sister mentioned a couple of weeks ago that her friend, Christi, has just walked the Camino de Santiago.

The whole 780km journey. On foot. 

She immediately had all my attention. I had never heard of the Camino de Santiago and had only met Christi very briefly on a previous occasion.

I knew I had to meet her again and a couple of days later we met for lunch and I was privileged to be introduced to the camino in the most perfect way. From the mouth (and heart) of a true pilgrim. Someone who has actually walked it herself and came back blessed in so many ways.

I bombarded her with questions and again, I am just so amazed at how people who have followed this journey are so generous with sharing their experiences. Christi clearly had a very spiritual journey and has started presenting talks on her experience.

So this Saturday, twenty odd women will be coming to my home to hear her talk. To say I am excited and filled with expectation is putting it mildly. I have secured a screen as she will be showing us some of her pictures and on Friday evening you'll find me in my kitchen, preparing those yummy Portuguese Pasteis de Nata tartlets that I'm famous for. (Thanks to the 'Cooking the Portuguese Way in South Africa' cookbook that my mom gave me 30 years ago!)

I'm hoping that everyone will be intrigued by this pilgrimage as much as I am and who knows, some of them might even end up walking with me in 2012!

On another note... I posed a question on the forum of the 'virtual algergue' that I belong to and it has been quite interesting to read the replies. The question was 'Has your camino experience changed who you are as a person?'

The answers made me realise again how different we all are. And thank goodness for that! Here is one of the replies that was posted:

'That's a really good question, and something I've been thinking a lot, especially since talking to a student who is writing her thesis on a related topic.

The Camino has changed my life in that I want to go back. Any extra money goes into my Camino fund. It's had enough of an effect on my life that I started a Camino blog, partly to process the experience--almost two years after my walk. And I've never been athletic, so it's amazing to know that my body is capable of astounding things like walking 1500km.

But I suspect I'm not particularly more spiritual, or necessarily nicer, or (much) better at dealing with life than I was pre-Camino. When I got home, I wasn't any closer to knowing what I really wanted to do with my life. But then again walking the Camino has made me look at these things more, and maybe to some extent in a different way.

So it continues to affect my life, I suspect often in ways I don't realize. Judging by myself and my Camino friends (although we could be abnormal), a lot of people don't have huge epiphanies on the Camino. But I think the experience can keep working away in our lives if we let it.

Walking the Camino for almost three months was an incredible experience for me. I went through some miserable times, physically and emotionally, but the whole time I had this feeling of rightness--that this was where I was meant to be. But it's hard to bring that back into regular life.'

Anna-Marie

There was also a very short and sweet 'No'. That one really made me smile.

Thank goodness we're not all the same!

I guess walking for kilometers on end with all your belongings on your back and not always knowing exactly where you're going to sleep, in a strange country, with a strange language and surrounded by strangers, is certainly going to take you to places you've never been to in more ways that one! 

It seems that one should have an open mind and certainly an open heart when embarking on this experience. I for one can't wait to answer my own question at the end of my own walk!

I promised earlier that I will quote pieces from Tony Kevin's wonderful book, 'Walking the Camino' and this is what he says about pilgrimage:

'The idea of pilgrimage, the dream of 'an arduous journey far from home undertaken for sacred reasons', is embedded deep in our culture and history. It is part of us, part of what inspires our urge to travel,to experience foreign places. We may not know it, but each time we leave our homeland to travel the world, we are looking for something more than just 'holidays', fun, and sex in the sun. I think we are seeking, whether we recognise it or not, spiritual enlightment, wisdom, and the revelation of God in the richness of the great world that lies out there beyond our home town.

Every traveller, especially every young traveller, is a pilgrim: whether they go consciously to seek spiritual rebirth, to escape from oppression or grief or boredom at home, to seek interesting or spiritually rewarding work experience abroad, or simply to enjoy the thrill of unfamiliar places and customs. The desire to go a-pilgriming, it seems, is part of our human condition.' 

I just love this book!

 And then on a final note...

Tomorrow is hiking day!! The weather looks good, so we are going to head out of Cape Town on about an hour's drive and we'll be spending the day hiking in the mountains just outside of our Winelands region. I am taking my camera along - so watch this space!

I thought I'd leave you with a picture of the beautiful Blue Disa we found on our last hike. As far as I'm concerned, there's only one way to describe this little flower - perfect!

Until the next post - cheers!

Day 30 - A lovely book about an inspiring journey

The past week has been one of reflection for me. I spent a lot of time thinking about why I find myself so attracted to the idea of doing the Camino de Santiagao - something that I knew nothing about a few weeks ago.

So I started searching on the Internet and spent time reading blogs written by people who have either walked the camino, or like me, are still contemplating doing it. I found some wonderful material and I'm even more fascinated than ever.

The fist of my great finds was a a book called 'Walking the Camino' by an Australian author, Tony Kevin. I've bought the book and find I can't put it down! Many pilgrims have written about their experiences but I think I'd have to look far to find one as eloquently written as this one.

The introduction to his book reads: 'Tony Kevin retired from the Australian foreign service in 1998, after a 30-year government career during which he served in the Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister's departments, and was Australia's ambassador to Poland and Cambodia.' So what would prompt someone like Tony to walk a pilgrim's route of 1200 kilometres over hills and stones, with just a wooden rod and a backpack on his back?

I felt as if I've arrived in good company and that discovering why he chose to do this might help me understand my own fascination with the camino experience.

After some searching I found a clip of an interview done by an Australian radio station. It's about 26 or so minutes long but really worth listening to, right until the end. Especially if, like me, you are planning to tackle the camino somewhere in the future. Have a look at this link - you'll find the prompt on the pages where you can listen to the interview.

http://www.abc.net.au/overnights/stories/s2053793.htm

In the interview the presenter asks him why he thinks people do the walk and this is what he answered: 'One of the reasons is that it is an affirmation of common humanity. It is a way of saying - we are all one people in a world that is so divided - where people shut each other out. The Camino is a place where people meet as equals, reaching out to each other. There is a wonderful feeling of comradeship and empathy that comes out of that. It is an opprtunity to live a life (a brief life) without all the complications of normal life, our insecurities, our anger and our aggression. The Camino is always friendly, always reaches out. It's an opportunity, for a short while, to live a perfect life.'

I would love to post quotes from the book and have sent the publishers a note to ask permission to do so. As soon as I have the ok, I'll go ahead and share some more if this wonderful book with you.

I said at the beginning of this blog that I have a feeling I am going to discover some great things and here we are, 30 days into the journey. It certainly has not disappointed yet!

Finally - here is the picture of what I suspect is a baby custard apple tree. Against all odds, it is still alive and well on my kitchen sill! I'm not known for my green fingers, so this is a miracle of sorts - I wrote all about it in a previous post. Miracles do indeed still happen!