Friday, October 9, 2009

Virgen del Camino - Hospital de Orbigo

We must leave the Albergue at 7:15 this morning, still quite dark so we are careful not to miss the way markings. It isn´t too long before I am quite a way ahead of Sally and katie ( theit two steps to my one).

We have chosen the road way to Hospital Orbigo (24km) it is 10km shorter than the walker´s way but not as scenic. I am anywhere from 400 to 4m away from a 2 lane highway much of the day. Two lane roadway, cornfields on both sides and clusters of trees here and there. I could be walking in Champaign ( except for the mountains in the distance).

I walk 41/2 hours without a break, except for a minor adjustment to my backpack. Finally, I give in to hunger and fatigue and find a place on the ground to sit and eat. I notice huge black ants all over, I fear they may carry off my tuna, so I move about 100m down the road to a cement stucture and have lunch.

Today isn´t the climb I thought it would be, that´s tomorrow.
About 2km from Orbigo I spot a rather long caterpillar. Think ¨stretch limo¨. This was a stretch caterpillar, at least 3x longer than any I´ve ever seen. I take a picture of it next to my boot ( just for Kobe).

I cross a long, beautiful cobblestone bridge just before coming into town that crosses the Orbigo river and find a place to write and wait for Sally and katie.

More thoughts on ¨time with God¨.

What constitutes having time with God? A 30 or 50 minute reading of the Bible and a prayer? Imagine if you reduced your relationship/time with your spouse or child to a 30 minute reading (of something they wrote), thanking them for what they did yesterday, and then giving them a list of things you need for today.
That doesn´t sound like much of a relationsip. So, for me, my relationship with, time with God, has to be so much more than that. Just a few thoughts...

Until next time...

3 comments:

  1. I guess the whole Camino thing could be a microcosm of one's life with a beginning, middle and end. You try to live each day in the moment and not worry too much about tomorrow. Your "time with God" is really the whole day since you don't walk and talk the entire day with others, but have most of it to yourself, your thoughts and the newly unfolding scenes around you. I think we all tend to compartmentalize too much when it comes to how we approach our relationship with God. Your thoughts about how we traditionally view QTs really hit home. How does one stay connected to God throughout the day, day by day? It does have to be more than a single block of time - it has to be all the time. God needs to be involved in my whole day and in all that I do. You've given me something to think about. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. Praying for you every day.

    Larry

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  2. Oh Terri!!! I am soooo excited for your adventure!!! Thank you again for sharing it!!! You were right, it reminds me of my 'travels'-although much longer than my own!

    I always felt God was RIGHT THERE with me! And I didn't bring a bible w/ me either, but that didn't matter. I knew by the people I encountered, the offers of 'sleep protection' from airport security guards, the random offers of water given, the friendship of strangers, and more...that God was there with me each day, all the time! More so than I felt him during quiet times.

    (and yes, I think QT's are good and all that too) but it certainly was/is different experiencing faith versus reading it!

    It sounds like you are on an encounter with God!!! I'm sooooo blessed through you and your adventure!!! :) (and yeah...I totally got cheesy there at the end-but it's true!)

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  3. Looking forward to meeting Stretch:)

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