Walking the Camino's Way

Later in the day, upon entering Leon, I get a little dose of humor — possibly due
to hitting some sort of emotional ―wall‖ near the end of this day; one of those
―everything is meaningless‖, doubt-steeped crises of faith that comes to every pilgrim
(and probably every human) at least once while walking their own Way … Mine came
today, and I was utterly shattered by it …
After walking a short way past the billboard pictured below, I sat down in a park
and slipped into a deep, dark funk; not really even knowing why. My ego just kept
whispering that my whole life was pointless; that no one was listening to what I had
to share, and that I was wasting my and everyone else‘s time with my efforts – that
everything I was trying to accomplish was essentially going to amount to nothing …
(Ouch!) … Then, a miracle happened (though it might not seem like a miracle to you, a
miracle it remains): a group of younger pilgrims came by, sat down next to me, and
gave me the last of their food while offering a few gentle words of encouragement.
Their pure act of kindness proved to be more than I could bear, and as they walked
away the ―dam broke‖ and I wept deeply — not out of depression, mind you, but
simply because I had received the very same selfless kindness from them which I
have been championing to others; that I had been allowed to experience firsthand just
how Power-full and Meaning-full that kind of selfless LOVE truly is! … And then
Purpose washed back over me, I dried my eyes gratefully, and I headed onward
towards that night‘s hostel.
―When you have completed 95 percent of your journey, you are only halfway
there.‖ ~ Japanese proverb
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