Updated: May 27, 2023
Cynthia and I so loved our pilgrimage on the "Camino Frances" last summer that we are going back, this time to walk the "Camino Portuguese" from Porto, Portugal to the same destination of Santiago de Compostela.
We will walk north along the coast of Portugal for about two weeks on the route known as "Senda Littoral." On the map at the top of the blog homepage, the route is the blue line on the left. Once in Spain, we will head inland a bit to follow the "Central" (red) route up to Santiago. We fly to Porto May 28 and start on the Camino May 31. I look forward to sharing our journey with you!
Peace and blessings - Lee
Five hundred miles and 52 days after setting out from St. Jean Pied de Port in France, we arrived today at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It has been harder and more blessed than we could ever have imagined.
To the mystery of love and grace that made this possible, Cynthia and I give thanks from the bottom of our hearts.
We finished our 49th day today… seven weeks since we started walking. We’re almost there; we have about 30 miles to go before arriving in Santiago de Compostela on Monday. This map shows our current Camino position, in Melide:
We are very ready to be done with walking and to return to our regular lives. And yet we are ambivalent. We will also miss it.
Walking distills life into intimate encounters we might normally miss…with ourselves, with others, with wonder as we pass through the beauty, and with the One who brought it all into being.
When we begin to worry about missing these blessings, we find hope in re-membering they will not be lost. All are possible at home, albeit requiring more intention. We will have the ability to move through our lives as an ongoing pilgrimage of intimacy… with ourselves, with others, with beauty, and with the One. If only we have eyes to see.
May we all have eyes to see.
Here is a short video I made a few days ago after struggling up a steep rise in the early morning. It might convey why we are sad to be leaving.
And here is a prayer from J.P. Newell that fuels my hope:
In the gift of this new day,
In the gift of the present moment,
In the gift of time and eternity intertwined
Let me be thankful
Let me be attentive
Let me be open to what has never happened before,
In the gift of this new day,
In the gift of the present moment,
In the gift of time and eternity intertwined.