Nine days since I finished walking and less than a week since I returned home, I’m starting to get my head around what I’ve done. So before the busyness of life, work and ministry overtakes me again, I thought I’d post one last blog to try to bring together what I’ve learned over a week of walking the Camino Frances. It’s an eclectic list - some of it practical, some of it spiritual, some of it unclassifiable! But, for what it’s worth and in no particular order, here’s what comes to mind:A pilgrimage often starts out as one thing and becomes another - many of those I spoke to started off going for a (very long) walk and ended up having a deeply spiritual experience. If you walk the Camino, pilgrimage will find you, even if you don’t know what it is or whether you want it when you start.The peace of walking alone or with undemanding company over long distances is the most powerful aid to good thinking and to prayer that I have ever experienced.Once you get home, stopping is not an option! My feet have been itching to get out of the door each day since I got back.It’s surprising how little you need for a week - my pack weighed about 6.5kg fully loaded, including water, and I still brought back a few items unused.Preparing your mind and spirit is optional - that happens along the way. Preparing your feet is essential!Just because folk are walking the Camino like you are doesn’t mean that they are ALL your kind of people - but mostly I met lovely, kind, open-hearted fellow pilgrims as I walked.God is as much, if not more, present in the people you meet and the natural world you encounter along the way as He is in the churches that punctuate it, especially as many are sadly not open.Being vegetarian / pescatarian in northern Spain is manageable, but monotonous. I suspect being vegan or gluten-free / dairy-free might be a lot more challenging.Next time, I’ll learn more Spanish.Long-distance walking turns you into a Hobbit - second breakfast become a very important feature of my Camino.One Camino isn’t enough! I didn’t meet a single person who didn’t express a desire to go back, including me.And finally … tarta de Santiago is absolutely delicious and incredibly easy to make. So I’ll finish with a bonus - the recipe for my favourite Camino dessert.Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 20cm springform cake tin.Whisk 4 medium eggs and 200g of caster sugar together until pale, creamy and about doubled in volume. Fold in 200g of almond flour / ground almonds and the zest of one lemon, taking care to retain as much air in the mixture as possible. Pour the batter into the lined tin.Bake for about 30 minutes until pale golden on top and until a skewer comes out of the cake clean. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out and remove lining. Once completely cool, dredge the top with icing sugar. Traditionally, the top is marked with a cross of St James - to do this, print and cut one out, place it on top of the cake, removing after adding the icing sugar.Goes extremely well with a strong cup of coffee!And, for one last time, Buen Camino!
After a wonderful and refreshing night’s sleep, it was lovely to have a lie in this morning until 8am and to get up slowly and in the light!Yesterday was almost too full of different experiences and impressions. The walking was up and down, but easy enough, especially as it was a shorter day than the day before. It was also, after the first hour or so of relative solitude, busier and busier the further we walked. By lunchtime, we were only about 5km from our destination and Amanda spotted 2 good Camino friends in a cafe. And thank goodness we stopped to join them, as about 5 minutes later, the heavens opened. We sat it out for a while, but eventually felt we had outstayed our welcome and ventured out to walk the final stretch into the city together in the teeming rain.Gradually, the countryside turned into suburbs and light industrial buildings, the rain eased and the roads we walked along and crossed became bigger and busier, until we reached the much ‘zapped’ giant Santiago de Compostela sign - it seems that pilgrims, like sailors, have a penchant for covering significant items in stickers!The last couple of kilometres felt slow … perhaps because we were getting weary, perhaps because the anticipation was making everything seem like it was taking longer. A short diversion to our final albergue, in the former Seminario Menor, and we headed uphill again to the 0km marker and our ultimate destination of Santiago Cathedral. I’m still working out how I feel about that arrival - if I had been alone, I’m sure I would have gone straight to the Cathedral with my backpack and poles. As it was, I went unburdened.I’m also still trying to work out why I did this or what it means to me. Part of it was definitely about an opportunity presenting itself and taking it. Part of it was fulfilling a long held hope. Part of it was proving to myself that I could do it physically. Maybe the biggest part was quite simply finding out what would happen and opening myself up to possibility.Would I do it again? Absolutely! I’d love to walk the Camino Ingles some time. But maybe next year …!Perhaps in a few days, once things have settled in my mind, I will have had a chance to reflect on what I’ve learned and maybe I’ll post something more. But, for now, the pilgrim is signing off for a few days’ rest and tourism and wishing you - Buen Camino!
Day 5 was always going to be a challenge. After a lazy evening in the sunshine yesterday, we left the albergue as the sun was rising, knowing that we had 26km to cover before our last night’s rest. The morning was overcast but very pleasant as we continued on through fields and farms. A second breakfast of tortilla was followed by empanada for lunch - the cafes and bars were fewer and further between today and many were either closed or closing as we passed. In fact, although the map showed a long string of villages to pass through, we barely touched many of them. And then the Camino started to follow more closely the main road to Santiago … just as the rain set in. So this afternoon has been 13km of getting our heads down and just plodding.It seems extraordinary that tomorrow we will be in Santiago - I’ve only been walking for just short of 100km so far, but it feels like it will never end. I can only imagine how my friend is feeling as she contemplates the last 20km of nearly 800km since France.Today feels as though it has, in some ways, been the essence of pilgrimage - aching feet, miles to cover before bed and time both to think and not to think. The steady rhythm of my feet has got me here and has freed up my mind to travel here, there and everywhere.Tomorrow, we will finish our pilgrimages - and perhaps start to make sense of what we have achieved.
Another night in a dormitory meant another earlier start. Today we really did leave in the dark and headed straight into a stretch of path through the misty woods without even the moon to light the way - definitely one of those occasions when the multi-functionality of a mobile phone comes in very handy!An early stop for breakfast gave us time to wait for the sun to rise, although not for the mist to clear, and we were on our way again. After a relatively quiet day yesterday, having shaken off the crowds by avoiding the standard stopping places at each end of the day, the next set of crowds caught up with us as we started out and has led to a busy path at times. Walking as a pair has been a joy - someone to chat with when so inclined, but also stretches when the silence falls and we can each walk with our own thoughts. It’s noticeable that many of the larger groups walking together can be heard coming from some distance away … and it still seems very odd that some are stopping to pose for photo opportunities quite so frequently. Learning the tolerance to accept that what may be a spiritual pilgrimage for me can also be a backpacking holiday for others has been salutary. My version of this walk is just that - MY version - and others have as much right to do this their way as I have.And today has felt more like a holiday: the sun has shone, my feet and legs are continuing to hold up well and we’ve walked through very varied terrain - town, country and all the graduations in between. Another relatively short day of 16km or 10 miles has allowed for another early stop. So a welcome shower, change of clothes and a cold drink on a sunny terrace is just what I need! After all, this isn’t about punishing myself by walking further than is sensible or sticking to someone else’s idea of what the itinerary should look like. On His journey to Jerusalem, Jesus too stopped to refresh Himself and others along the way - time to pray (today in the church of S Juan de Furelos on the way into Melide), time to sit and talk with others over a meal or a drink, time to just be …
Today, after an earlier start (the cafe opposite our accommodation didn’t open up as advertised!), we took it slowly, making the most of our shortest stage of the week. The way has been gently up and down, a mixture of roadside paths and tracks through farmland and woods. I’m fascinated by the frequency with which it seems that we are wandering through someone’s farmyard or sharing something isn’t quite a road and isn’t quite a path with cars, bicycles and dogs.Many of the most rural stretches consist of sunken lanes with sides so high that I feel like a hobbit … a comparison that seems even more apt when we stop for second breakfast!Some of the albergues that we have stopped at must be thriving, as there is clearly a lot of investment in them - most are sparklingly clean with recent refurbishment in evidence. But, more importantly, there has been a genuine sense of being welcome and valued and not just for the money we will spend. Whether they are busy or not, with the odd exception, we have been greeted with a smile and genuine interest in our journey … and then sent on our way with a wish for a ‘Buen Camino’.For the first time today, we have come across an open church - it has been one of my only disappointments so far that so many churches have been locked closed. I had hoped to sit for a few moments in each church as I went to remember a few of those on my prayer list - instead, I have been praying as I walk. But at midday today, I was afforded a few minutes in front of the altar of the church of S Xulian de Camino to take out my notebook and remember each person by name and to light a candle for those whose memory I have been asked to keep.Occasionally, we have come across folk selling stamps for our ‘credencials’ alongside the path or encountered small shops with stern instructions that stamps are only available if you buy something. It has reminded me that in Jesus’ time too, the business of pilgrimage was a mixture of the holy and the commercial! Perhaps another component of a true pilgrimage is the ability to disentangle the one from the other and focus only on the external elements that feed the inner journey.
Today I have been tired - after my first night in a dormitory, albeit a small and comfortable one, I am suffering the effects of very little sleep. I’m JUST managing to stay charitable about the snorers - I suspect I snore too sometimes and no-one really knows whether they are offenders or not! But the bright main lights being turned on before 7am and the loud conversations regardless of whether others were sleeping still were enough to try anyone’s patience!But, enough sleep or not, the Way is still there to be walked; after a sketchy breakfast we were on our journey before 9 and straight up a very steep ascent from the valley of the River Mina. Yesterday, our late start meant that we could still imagine that we were among just a few intrepid souls - today, it was a little more like a human motorway! Large groups, including a one huge gaggle of about 50 teenage boys, were walking at a broadly similar pace, so it took until nearly lunchtime, the appearance of the first cafe and the onset of persistent heavy drizzle to start thinning crowds. Gradually, our lack of hurry has paid off and, by the afternoon, we were once again strung out enough to feel like we had stretches of path to ourselves.And then in mid-afternoon we arrived ‘off-stage’ at our Pension for the night. The crowds are walking further on to the bigger stop of Palas de Rei, but we have stopped in the tiny hamlet of Eirexe, where the sun is out, the shower is hot and a cold drink is beckoning.Prayers have been offered along the way today for all those whose names have been placed on my list.
O Lord God, when Thou givest to Thy servants to endeavour any great matter, grant us also to know that it is not the beginning, but the continuing of the same, unto the end, until it be thoroughly finished which yieldeth the true glory; through Him who, for the finishing of Thy work, laid down His life, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.One day and 22km down. My feet have held up so far; my legs are still feeling strong; my heart and brain are feeling optimistic. It’s been a good day! Today I have felt joy at the sunshine and the beauty of the countryside. I have felt relief at managing the pace and the ability of my body to carry me along the road. I have felt gratitude for those who have provided hospitality and for the wisdom of those I am walking with.But I am very aware that this is only about a fifth of the journey and that my friend has already walked more than 400 miles. Francis Drake’s payer was also my school prayer - I often wonder why it was chosen. Whatever the reason, it’s part of what has shaped me as a Christian, both positively and negatively. I pray it today in the hope that my body, mind and soul will sustain me through the journey. But I know now what I did not understand 38 years ago: that sometimes what we finish is not what we thought it was when we started. And that having the humility to accept that God’s plan does not conform to our own plans is an essential part of our pilgrimage through life.
A scribe then approached and said, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ Matthew 8:19-20Today I finally feel like a pilgrim! After arriving at my first hotel at nearly 2am this morning and a very fitful night’s sleep, I got up and got going as planned. Taxi to the bus station, then a quick breakfast of much needed coffee and a gigantic croissant to keep me going. Fortification was definitely needed before encountering the scrum to get on the direct bus and even then I only managed to get the second to last seat - the poor chap next to me had shoulders wider than the seat space! Thankfully, despite feeling tired and bordering on irritable, I summoned up the charitable thoughts from yesterday and accepted my diminished space with the best grace I could muster.And now I’m in Sarria. My first taste of Camino hospitality at a lovely hostel has consisted of a roaring fire, a cup of ginger tea and a muffin to round off the gigantic boccadilla that just about dealt with my ravenous hunger! All a big help as I’m feeling a bit disorientated. It’s a long while since I’ve travelled like this - staying somewhere different every night, with no chance to get used to the bed and the locale.And perhaps that’s also another defining aspect of a pilgrimage: never settling for more than a night or 2 and constantly moving on. Contemplating this is reminding me that I’m, by nature, a settled sort of person. I like familiarity and regularity. I like circular walks: setting out and returning from a spot that I can, even if only temporarily, call home. The next few days will tell whether I can manage the adjustment to constantly moving on, moving on, moving on.So, for now, it’s enough that tonight I have somewhere to lay my head … and my first stamp on my credencial!
As I sit in the airport departure lounge, feeling uneasily different in my dress and my intention from many of those around me, I’m drawn back to all the thinking that I’ve done in recent months about what a pilgrimage actually is. One definition I found is that it is ‘a visit to somewhere special; somewhere you go to show respect’. That seems rather inadequate to me. Google ‘helpfully’ suggested that it is a ‘pilgrim’s journey’!But perhaps that very simple explanation bears some unpacking … the journey element seems important to me. And I think, for a true pilgrimage, there must be some sense in which that journey is personally taxing. Not that every pilgrim must walk as I will. But just hopping into a car and travelling door to door doesn’t quite fit the idea. Perhaps the key is that it’s not a short journey in terms of time -even if the distance is relatively short, maybe it’s that we start it long before we set foot out of the door. We start preparing our bodies, our minds and, crucially, our souls to be receptive to the pilgrim experience.The word ‘pilgrim’ comes from the Latin ‘peregrinus’ - literally one who travels through the land, but it is also used to mean ‘foreigner’ or ‘temporary resident’. To be a pilgrim means to travel as what the Old Testament calls ‘a stranger and a sojourner’. It draws on ancient ideas of hospitality to strangers - the Greek concept of ‘philoxenia’, as well as God’s command to care for the resident alien alongside the widows and orphans.And I’m left wondering if the role of the pilgrim is like that of the 3 angels beneath the oaks of Mamre - yes, to be open to hospitality, but more importantly to find a way to be a blessing to those we travel among.
We have eight bells at St Mary’s Gillingham, which are rung regularly.Bell practice is on Monday evenings from 7:30pm to 9pm. The bells are rung for the 10am Sunday morning Eucharist from 9:30am.We have a small friendly team of ringers, but need a few more people to join us.If you would like to learn to ring (age from about 11 or adult), why not come along to one of our practice sessions to see us ringing and find out what is involved?Bell ringing is good fun for people of all ages, as well as being a service to the church. And it’s excellent exercise!Possibly you are already able to ring and would like to take this up again and join us.If you are interested, please contact the Ringing Coordinator, Alan Jeffs, on awjeffs@btinternet.com.
