My feet are in 10 inches of water, a foot bath for pilgrims in the form of a pool / fountain. I am overlooking a beautiful valley growing all sorts of trees and some agriculture. And the restaurant lets us eat and drink at this spot.
Are pilgrims supposed to enjoying themselves like this? Should we be staying at simpler facilities, avoiding seeming luxuries? Some feel it’s wrong to stay at hotels when on Camino, and even though this is still an albergue (dorm), it’s still a bit fancy. Do we give this up in a penitential way?
I’m of the mindset that though we could, it’s not the point of Camino. We are trying to orient ourselves, move ourselves, understand ourselves. Maybe it means giving up anything that means luxury. But what if it’s not luxury that’s holding you back. As I mentioned yesterday, sometimes pilgrims are hungry on their pilgrimage. Hunger is not luxurious.
So we should all take a look at the ways we journey through life. Maybe we are addressing or concerned about the wrong things. Maybe we are avoiding something far more difficult to define, or something much harder that we may be avoiding entirely. Maybe we need to soak our feet in the waters that heals our wounds.
The old way of the Roman Catholic church was heavy handed with the guilt and penitence.
ReplyDeleteI see nothing wrong with a blend of simplicity and comfort. After all a whole day of walking is plenty of Penance.
Some nights you have slept almost as monks, so no harm if you opt for comfort sometimes.
Sometimes you walk in silent meditation, other times you commute and minister to each other.
It's about the balance