Camino Blog – Day 26 – Rough against rough

Welcome to this Camino Blog. If you are new it might be best to start with the introduction. Otherwise, carry on.

Location: Rabanal

Distance: 11.2km – 536.7km total. Short day. A bit of recovery required and appropriate stopping points was a bit tricky to sort in the next bit.

Weather: Fine and warm.

Terrain: Slightly uphill, mostly on track. A bit like the desert road.

Physical condition:Okay.

Accommodation: We arrived early to queue for british run alburgue. Good reports, but doesn’t open till 2pm. The whole town looks nice so if the worst comes to the worst we should be able to find somewhere. Update- we are in and it seems cute.

Other: So yesterday’s accommodation takes the prize for the worst to date. The main issue was that the beds creaked whenever you moved and, since there were so many, they made a cacophony of noise all night. Add in a significant snorer and you had the makings of a great night. Oh well, you win some and lose some.

SB 2 – God and the story are way bigger than you

You are beyond my comprehension or control
I am God not human

27 years ago I started to read books for enjoyment largely due to the discovery of The Belgariad, a slightly trashy, but very popular fantasy series. (As a slight aside, owning the books was one of the first things Deb’s and I realised that we had in common).

It sounds a bit silly, but the main plot is that the good guy needs to kill the bad God. Intertwined in this is a character who is aware that if they lose she will have to be the God’s wife (honestly, who comes up with this stuff!). Anyway, at one point she is explaining this to one of the other characters and had this to say about interacting with a God.

…….

‘If [we lose]?’ …. ‘Then Torak (the bad God) will come to claim his bride, and there will be no power on earth sufficient to stop him.’

‘I would sooner die,’ …

‘So would I,…, but that option may not be open to me. Torak’s will is so much stronger than mine that he may be able to take from me the ability or even the desire to will myself out of existence. If it should happen, it may very well be that I’ll be deliriously happy to be his chosen and beloved – but deep inside, I think that a part of me will be screaming and will continue to scream in horror down through all the endless centuries to the very end of days.’

……

Tacky as this is, it helps illustrate what we are dealing with here. The belief that there is a God leads to some hard truths about the capability of that God. Unless they will it, we are not dealing with a being at a similar level to us. They could easily just overwhelm us and we would largely be helpless.

There are appropriate responses. Awe, worship, humility……

Pictures

Lots of crosses weaved into the fence.

Lots and lots of people on the track this morning. This is coming into the town we are staying. Not sure if this is because of when/where we left from or the fact the track will get significantly busier as we get closer to Santiago.