Porter of prayers

Me, what I am offering and why.

 Hi.  I am Marj.  I am an invisible member of Little St. Mary's congregation.  I was not always invisible, at one point being an 8 o'clock communion regular. I still visit the church regularly, usually avoiding service times, sometimes sitting during services for a brief period at the back.

I will be leaving Cambridge on the 3rd April with the intention of walking from Zamora to Santiago de Compostella along the Via Plata, one of the many Camino Santiago Routes. I expect to get back to Cambridge on the 26th April. 

It is a voyage of thanksgiving to God for guidance throughout the nearly 70 years of my life.  

I am well aware of being privileged to be able to do this, to take nearly four weeks out of life, shed my responsibilities, and indulge myself with a journey which is essentially selfish - God doesn't really need such a curious demonstration of gratitude. Nor does anyone else. 

I am very well aware of the privilege of still being able to contemplate a walk of this duration, most particularly having spent two years as a quadruped, walking only with the aid of sticks.  Grace to God what prevented me walking those years was not permanent.

I am aware that some who may not have the luxury of time or who may lack the gift of strength to undertake such a walk would likewise dearly love to express their own gratitude, their own prayers to God body and soul in this way. 

Therefore in gratitude to God that I can, I offer to carry prayers to Santiago for any who wish.  

Prayer portage

How might this work? There are several ways.

  • Prayers can be left at the church for me to pick up. I would be grateful if they could be printed on lightweight paper and closely written: paper does weigh something and the grams add up! I don't need to see it, I don't need to know who you are. When I get to Santiago, if I get there, I will negotiate a place to leave the prayers.
  • Prayers carried in the heart are light on the shoulders. Some prayers are not so private but may be shared with me. I will make and carry a list.
  • Prayers may be linked to a section of the route (see below).  I like this form of prayer, and used it many times when running marathons.  I used to label each mile with a name of someone who was much in my thoughts, whether out of gratitude or concern, saving the most intense prayers for miles 16 - 23 - always the hardest miles for me.  I no longer run marathons, but I still dedicate runs to people's needs.  If there is interest I will arrange a method for signing up for sections of the camino.
  • This is not a sponsored walk.  Prayers however carried are carried gratis.  If you would like to give in connection with your prayer, I am sure the church would be grateful for any donations, as would a charity appropriate to your prayer.  
The route.

The Via Plata, starting from Seville in the south is one of the less travelled of the many Camino Santiago routes. I propose joining it in Zamora, and following the variant that goes through Ourense rather than joining the more traditional Camino Frances.  The site https://www.gronze.com/via-plata has very detailed information on the stages.  I will be adjusting some of the stages to suit my old legs. I will decide whether I go through Laza or Verin when I see how I get on.  Even if the Spanish is not your language, enjoy the photos!

Engagement.

This camino 22 project offers me the possibility of a congenial way of engaging with the community of Little St. Mary's.  I intend to continue to add to the site, detailing preparation, background and reflections. You may follow if you wish.  Closer to departure, we may be able to meet in person, possibly have a short turn about the fen together, for those who can, following a service some day. I would welcome such engagement.  It would provide a sense of company for me as I walk along solo, perhaps very solo - who knows - as the country comes alive again following the pandemic.  Depending on what equipment (a very light keyboard?) I feel able to carry, I may be able to add to the blog en route.  We'll see.

On the nature of a plan.

If the pandemic has brought us anything positive, it has brought us a better understanding of the nature of a plan.  So many cherished plans have foundered through restrictions or ill health. But we have learned to make plans anyway - and in that spirit I launch this one - in spite of knowing that many and varied causes may thwart its completion. In this positive spirit of optimism I present it to you, with all the attendant caveats unvoiced but understood. Onwards!





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Buen Camino!

I am home. Looking back, and rubbing my knees thoughtfully, I am again mildly astonished that I had the temerity to attempt the camino. So much could have gone wrong (but didn't), including what I had actually feared most: that I would start walking and discover that I didn't want to be there, that the memories of that first camino that called me back were false, or that I had changed, or that the camino had changed, that the presence that I had felt so close to ten years ago was simply absent.  It was all there, the same joy to be out and walking first thing in the morning, the same transient but deep friendship with others sharing the way, the same sense of walking in that presence, guarded, encouraged, cared for and sheltered. As before, I felt myself not so much walking alone but walking with the silent company of all who had ever walked the way, one with a huge fellowship of people, but not feeling crowded out or intimidated or unwelcome.  My memory was not wrong. I am gl...
Read more

Guidance

Written (mostly) the Saturday before Easter.  Anticipating the camino I oscillated between two extremes: astonishment at my arrogance in presuming that I was still up to the challenge of walking a third the diameter of Spain and contempt for my fears that anything could go seriously wrong. The whispering in one ear: You're nearly 70, your knees are dodgy, your shoulders aren't good, a third of the albergues are still closed, the camino will be terribly crowded and you won't find a bed, the camino will be totally deserted and you won't have anyone to talk to and you'll go mad, it will be too hot, it might be too cold.  The whispering in the other ear: Even a nearly 70 year old woman is not in fact risking anything very great in attempting a camino sola. This is modern Spain, civilisation is never more than a few stone throws away - even in the remoter parts you usually cross a major road once or twice a day, a phone call and a taxi will take you within the sphere whe...
Read more

Post postscript: A hospitaliera new to the job

Albergue Winter Plazas en dormitorios compartidos: 5 Numero de dormitorios:   3 Donativo Did you think, just because you signed up to it as as in His service that it was going to be easy? That it was not going to hurt? Even on your first camino, in His name, you expected that your feet would ache, that the straps would set sharp stars dancing along your neck and shoulders, that weariness would stretch the kilometres of the afternoon to feel like miles.   You even knew from sharing your house thirty-five years ago the pain of the shift from "my kitchen" to "our kitchen": loved pots   pressed into unusual service and stored in unexpected places, the fridge overpopulated with food you'd never buy, curious leftovers you never cooked. You knew what you were signing up to, as certain as you knew in your feet as well as your head what 400k means when you collected your Confraternity of St. James credential, and bought tickets to Zamora to undertake another camino, in H...
Read more