Celebrate1

Easter in a "foreign" church prompts me to post here rather than on my personal blog. This is a holy place and I feel it is better suited for here.

I participated in Mass in at the Cathedral in Brentwood, England. It was moving and hovers at the top of my list of memorable and moving (my girls getting baptised and my husband joining the Church bring special meanings to Easter too) category.

The priest, being English, tends to look so serious, but his Homilies are moving and always make me smile, if not laugh out loud. He said it was an Easter "rule", up until about the 15th century for priests to bring laughter to the Easter service. After the seriousness of lent and the enormity of the Christ rising, spring springing, and all that, joy was required. After the priests became stand up comics, the Bishops he said, changed the rule.

His stories of this week were heartlifting. A first reconciliation where he raised his hand to grant absolution and the young lad high fived him. Asking a group of children what they thought Christ's first words were after He arose, a youngster thrusting her hand in the air and bouncing about, Ta da!" she responded.

Entertiwned with the words the priest was sharing and reciting, I thought about the Passion play I witnessed on Portobello Road on Friday, my Camino and the world it opened for me, my relationship with St. James and his relationship with Christ. I thought about Mary, who is my feminine advisor and fills my life with roses. The angels I know whom walk with me.

He made us promise to celebrate today. I am. All of the blessings. All of the love, all of the opportunities and challenges bestowed upon me. All of my family, both of blood and from love. My friends. My angels. I'm celebrating prayers answered, prayers unanswered (there's a great country song about this), and sending grace, and peace, and prayers out to all of you.

Inhale the Grace and the spring and the symbols of hope this Day and sason bring. It doesn't matter your faith or your beliefs. Renewal is all around us. Just take a moment and take it in. Celebrate!

It's Been Awhile

For lots of known reasons and many unknown reasons I've been away from the Church. Not away from God, by any means. I have a very close relationship with him. But I've not been to Church for a long, long time. Let me be more specific. I went to church/Mass all along the Camino. I've gone other times too. But not regularly and not with Communion.

The Catholic church is just across the river. I see it out of my window every morning and every night. I've gone every Sunday and to all of the Lenten services. Tonight I did my confession with a wonderful priest. This place has called me, ever so quietly, back to the place that I so dearly love.

Perhaps it is the building's gentle presence. Perhaps it is because it is St. Mary's. Perhaps because the likes of Joop and Gerry and Dwight and others, serve as mentors and reminders and callers and memories.

I'm never far from God. But I've not let myself get truly close for a very long time.

It's nice to be home.

Everywhere!

Earlier this week, I was caught by surprise. A gentleman at the paper I'm working at in Scotland, asked me if I had really done the Camino. First my surprise was wondering how he I had, and the second bit of surprise was just that I had found someone else who knew of it.

Here in Europe, pretty much everyone knows about it. When/if I mention it, I don't have to explain myself.

I sent off information for him, so he'll have the same good start I did.

And the part about how he'd known? He'd Googled me :)

My Steps

After getting to view the Camino Steps art exhibit in St. Paul I felt an additional kinship with others, knowing that the emotions and "guidance" I felt, was not in my head. I futher confirmed it this last summer when I was able to get back together with my friends. I needed to meet with them again. I needed to sit with them and ask about their experience, while looking in their eyes, and hear it for real. To know mine was real too. And that happened.

My collage work, about the Camino is still very literal. I have spurts of metaphorical creativity in other areas, but not with my journey. Meeting Kuch in December is helping.

In the meantime, here is my small, but personally signifigant collection.

Update

A post from a friend spurred me to see when I last wrote. And then I saw Klaus' post about May being the last date.

Oh my heavens, I have not updated two, wait, no, three pieces, no wait, FOUR pieces of news.

One: I found Gerry! Or rather Gerry found me! Yes, Jerry is Gerry and Gerry will "finish" his Camino this summer with his lovely wife, Lilly. Just as planned! I will get to see him this year, if my planned trip to Ireland comes together.

Two: I met up with Joop and Harald this last September. At the end of a trip to Paris, I took the train to Amsterdam. Joop lives about an hour outside of the city and Harald came from Germany. We stayed in a hostel and spent a couple of days seeing Holland from a local's eyes.

Three: Virginia / "Ginn", whom I became cyber friends with from having read this blog, has made her Camino and returned home. Thanks to Facebook, we "face" nearly every day!

Four: Javier's daughter and I still converse now and again. She's working in Japan.

Two New Encounters

My cousin mentioned to a Park Ranger that I'd walked across Spain (meaning she figured I could handle a week of backpacking in the Canyonlands). The ranger looked at me and said "you did the Camino"?

Yay! He and his wife had also. And low and behold his wife was also a ranger. He had me look her up while leaving the park.

That was my first encounter, other than at the exhibit of running into other pilgrims.

Hopefully the first of many.

Sacred Steps

I attended the Sacred Steps Art Exhibition at St. Thomas this weekend.

I was fortunte to have a few moments to meet George Greenia before his lecture. It was a simple and brief, but dead-on description of the history and compulsion and emotion of the camino. I was moved.

He had the pilgrims stand...there were so many of us. And I met Donna. I have someone, finally, Stateside, only a timezone away, in a city that I frequent to talk about it. We had many things in common.

I felt at home again. With kin.

If you get a chance to see the art exhibit, please try to see it. It is small, but emotionally signifigant.

Feliz Año Nuevo

I woke up yesterday thinking - Feliz Año Nuevo. I would have said I said it out loud and you would have thought I went looneytoons. No, it was definitely inside my head because I remember my eyes rolling up as I was trying to think what order the words needed to said. More to the point. At 12:00:01 AM, January 1, 2009, I could no longer say "last year" and "mi Camino' in the same sentence. That was a sad realization for my head and heart. It seems so yesterday and so long ago at the same time. It was surreal to me as the date approached to start.

It was surreal when I was walking day after day. And it is surreal to think that I did it at all. Except....

When January 1, 2009 I hear from Harald and Joop wishing me a happy new year. And my dear friends beckon me to their homelands for a visit.

Joop, bless his poetic, sweet heart wrote: "Since we have met there has not been a single day that I did not think of you....."

And this is why whistfully, I retreat from "last year", but enthusiastically embrace "soon" and look forward to 2012 when the "gang" all converges on Santiago once again to rejoice in our "saintly" friendships.

Pilgrim's Together

Pilgrim's Together (click to watch video)
by John Coleman

No longer strangers but pilgrims together
Called to be woven like threads on the loom
Drawn by the one God who thirsts for communion
Called by the piper called by the tune
Though we come from many nations
And our faith has many names
Across oceans over mountains
On these paths of peace we come
To be together in the walking
In the resting in the meal
And when the blessed breath of evening comes
As one the pilgrims kneel
No longer strangers. . .
We know our thirst for God is blessing
We know our hunger’s not a curse
We know our emptiness is sacred room
Like a precious spirit purse
We are lovers of communion
We are building with our clay
A house for God to dwell with us
Let us be the house we pray
No longer strangers. . .
Every thread that’s sewn is different
There are no two quite the same
All the colours make strange rainbows
God’s promises made plain
We submit to the great weaver
Let our pattern be the weaver’s refrain
Our God the God of difference
Calls each of us by name
No longer strangers. . .

364 Days Later

Tomorrow is the first anniversary begining my Camino. Joop and I, a year ago today were sitting in a tiny outdoor cafe, sipping red wine contemplating our sanity and fortitude of the days ahead of us.

After sharing much of my story for the first time this weekend with a new one in my life, I reflected again on the signifigance of this adventure.

Joop called yesterday. Emails from Harald and Anika today. We're all in each other's thoughts - still woven together from the journey.

My past, my present and my future.