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Health & Fitness

Rome #4: "Nothing will ever be difficult again."

Greetings from Santiago de Compostela in Spain, near the coast of the Atlantic Ocean! We´ve just completed our five day, 118km journey through the Spanish country side. It seems as though all of Spain is just one big "middle of nowhere." Often, we would go for hours without seeing a town, passing an occasional farm or small business, and then we´d arrive in town consisting of a church, a couple of houses, perhaps a cafe, and that´s about it. But I will say this: I have never seen anything as beautiful as Spain. Every so often we´d be forced to take "Creation stops" and just take in the beauty of God´s creation. The Camino is simply one breathtaking view after another.

That being said, the Camino was probably the most difficult thing I´ve ever done; this was the general consesus amongst the eight of us on the trek. In some ways, it can be a bit deceiving. I mean, spending as much time as you want backpacking through Spanish countryside with your best friends? Sign me up! But nobody mentions the blisters, the knee pain, the cuts and bruises, the butting heads, the fatigue, the anxiety of not being sure youll have a place to sleep...not to mention dehydration and heat exhaustion.

Yesterday, our trek ended up being about 9km longer than we thought it was going to be and, near the end, everybody was feeling the heat. Morale was low, tempers were high, and blisters were fervent. We eventually made it to our hostel town about 3 hours after we had planned, exhausted and cranky. Then we found out that there was no Mass in that town and that the church was locked so we could not even go in to pray and just be in the presence of the Lord after a long day. As we sat up talking last night, talking about the events of the day, the conversation turned to Gods providence and just how good he has been to us over the course of the week. Thats when I remembered my original post about the Camino.......humility and trust!


Too often, I am tempted to only acknowledge the presence of God in my life when things are easy or going well. Too often I only thank God for the good things he gives me. But this trip has shown me that God is everywhere and is present in every moment of my life, good or bad. Whether or not he has willed certain things into my life is one thing, but the fact is that not matter what happens or whether or not he is actively willing or simply allowing for our growth in holiness, God is there and will get me through. Take courage and be strong, trust in the Lord! To be able to kneel before the cross or before the Lord present in the Eucharist and say Jesus, I trust in You! is an act of great humility and great trust. It is a subscription to something greater than ourselves and an acknowledgment on our part of our dependence on the Lord, his mercy, and his providence.

Trust in the Lord and do not be afraid!

PAX,
RA

NB: Sorry this is sporadic today....and sorry for the missing punctuation! I´m on a hostel computer and Spanish keyboards are a bit different than what I´m used to (who knew!).

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