Day 34: Everything You Didn't Want to Know About the Camino

I am so grateful for today.  It was a long day--we have learned before that 27 km is hard on us, and we were brutally reminded of that again today.  7:30am to 7:30pm, we made our way from Palas de Rei to Arzua.  We were tired, not feeling 100%, and we had to take a lot of breaks.  Sound tough? It was.  Sound awful?  Sometimes it is , like when you *really* need the bathroom and there's only a field (if you're lucky, a forest).  Sometimes, it's super hot.  Sometimes, there are no toilet seats, toilet paper, or toilets.  Sometimes we are "so close" for a good two hours before we can actually see where we are going.  Sometimes, you get blisters--on your toes, on your heels, on the bottom of the balls of your feet.  Sometimes, your cheetah legs break.  Sometimes, you have injuries that aren't even Camino related or noble.  And after all this , you still XXkm to walk the next day.  All of these things are really little, but top off any of them with exhaustion and you've got basically the biggest problem in the world on your hands.  Come on out to northern Spain and try it sometime.

Because it's awesome.  Today was full of challenges and pains and tiredness, but I wouldn't change a moment of it (except for Patrick's sake--he might say otherwise ;) if you really want to know how tough the Camino is, talk to Baby Pilgrim.  He gets the best pilgrim award).  Wherever we are, we always seem to be exactly where we need to be, and with who we need to be with.  And always, we have everything to give and more than we could imagine (certainly more than we can realize right now) that we receive.  Which brings to mind...

Today, we talked about Blessed Chiara Luce.  Long story short, she was a young, beautiful, Italian girl who died of cancer when she was very young (google her! Do it!).  As she was dying, she became paralyzed, lost all of her beautiful hair, and suffered much.  But, with every loss, be it a handful of hair, movement in her legs, or a night of sleep because of pain from her treatment, Chiara was happy because she give everything to Jesus.  "For You, Jesus," she would say with every strand of hair she lost.  She provides a good example for us pilgrims--both those on the Camino and those in the mundane monotony of everyday life.  With each step, with each little pain, with each dish we wash, paper we write, task we accomplish, job we mistakenly blunder, in everything, we can say with Chiara, "For You Jesus."  This is where joy comes in.

Couldn't post this until now, will try to get both Tuesday and Wednesday (final day of our pilgrimage!) up tomorrow.  Please, pray for us!! And give everything to Jesus!

"Make an effort to respond at each moment to what God is asking of you: have the will to love him with deeds. — They may be little deeds, but don’t leave out a single one."

-St. Josemaria Escriva