Ascending the mountain with the sun this morning, our group traveled together to the highest point on the Camino: Cruz de Ferro.
This iron cross sits atop a 5-meter high pole and is surrounded by stones that have been carried and cast off by pilgrims. As our pilgrims prayerfully put down their rocks, the voice of another pilgrim rose up from the bar of the monument. “Let me take your picture!” a fellow pilgrim from Canada shouted. As she positioned our group for the shot, she told us to smile and take on the significance of the moment. “People have laid their burdens down here and now you have too. Cherish the meaning of this way.” Then as she got ready to take a second shot, she told the group to put our hand over our hearts. “Feel the significance of this moment. Make a wish,” she instructed and we all did.
Hugging her after, we bid her ‘buen Camino’ as she went on her way. As so often happens we ended up leap-frogging her throughout the day, each time sharing friendly greetings and little bits about our lives. It turns out that while we were on our fourth day of walking, she was on her seventy-second. In fact, she began in Le Puy-en-Valey in France, where the Sisters of St. Joseph were founded in 1650. Since April 9th she has walked each day, even celebrating her 70th birthday along the way. She, like so many pilgrims we’ve met, marveled at the opportunity and tenacity of the students we’re journeying with.
From the Iron Cross, we headed down the mountain- an experience of beautiful vistas and treacherous rock-strewn trails. Thank God for trekking poles! By the time we reached the first village at the base(ish) of the mountain, our girls’ feet were feeling the wear and tear of the descent and I was giving thanks for my knee brace!
Gratitude, indeed, was a theme for the day. We reflected on how challenges can be transformed into opportunities and how low points often make us appreciate blessings and joys along the way. By day’s end, our pilgrims were proud of all they’d accomplished and only a quarter of their way through walking are trying to think “cool” thoughts on the heat wave and maintain the grace of awareness as we journey more and more with God and each other everyday.
