The Fellowship, Stinging Nettle & Lisps

Hello from Samos, a Benedictine Monastery village 120km west of Santiago de Compestela. It's 7:30am & I've found interent access so I'll take the chance to quickly write before entering into the final week of walking. Today is day 562 of 568. Not far now. I'm nearly jumping out of my skin with the prospect of stepping onto a plane bound for Australia in a very short time. I flashed my Australian drivers license to some guys I was having dinner with last night & they refused to believe that the photo was of me. They couldn't stop laughing. 18months of walking can change a person. I had a wonderful week on the road this past week as I met an energetic group of 18 to 30 year olds from all around the world who have become friends on the Camino & stuck together. I ate & walked with them for 3 days, enjoying the diverse conversations & ways of travelling. Two of the girls from England loved to sing while they walked, two of the guys from New York loved to rap, sing harmonies & talk about future plans while they walked & others enjoyed to have quiet time of contemplation but they'd always meet back up at the end of the day to share dinner. They have declared themselves the 'Fellowship' & have thus handed out names to each person according to JRR Tolkins 'The Lord of the Rings'. I'm pleased to report that I snared the title of Strider & anyone who has read the books or seen the movies will understand that I scored big on that one. Mind you, Philip from England was named Golim & was chuffed to bits! I spent the first day walking with Philip & Pat, two young Anglican fellas who have just completed a year of full monastic life with the Franciscans along with their friend Julian. The Camino is their re-entry into the 'outside world' as it has been, to a point, for me as well. We spoke at great length about re-entry, prayer, theology & the Camino itself & perhaps the resounding conversation that has stayed with me was after Philip commented about the use of churches here. Philip had entered the Cathedral in Leon to spend some time in prayer within a building he described as "Having been built to draw us into intimate pray" but found it difficult being the only one praying. The Cathedral was packed with pilgrims taking photos, buying souvenirs & in general, talking very loudly. He felt like he was back in the Jewish temple just before Jesus came in & over-turned all the trader's tables. The conversation that persued lasted a number of days (on & off) & we began to look at the Camino itself. There are a lot of people here 'searching' but unless what you're searching for is historical information for your next architectural project, the pilgrims are pretty much left to their own devices. In past years I might have convinced myself that there is very little Phil & I could do to help people focus on the spiritual side of the pilgrimage but after the last 18 months I might just give this one a bit more thought. On the third day of walking with some of the 'fellowshipers' Philip & I had concluded another discussion about the Camino when we decided to completly change the mood & show Elizabeth, a young lady from the USA who was walking with us, how to play cricket. I had a small foam ball in my bag & Phil simply adjusted his walking pole into a comfortable bat before I bowled to him on the sidewalk in a small town called Villafranca. Phil swung through & connected so well that the little foam ball disappeard skywards. It was about now that I realised that playing cricket in front of the village's historic castle-like town hall wasn't a particularly great place to play. Location, location, location. The ball canoned into the stone work only just above the top window of the 3storey 'castle' before lobbing back out into the main street, bouncing right in front of the only car travelling down the road, bringing it to a quick stop. Phil, laughing uncontrolably, slinked away quickly leaving me to retrieve his handy-work form the middle of the road. Nice one Phil. He still maintains it was the best hit of his life. We left Villafranca soon after & along with Elizabeth, played soccer/hockey along the deserted country road all the way to our destination 10km further afield. The days have been searingly hot lately & that day was no different. A medium sized river ran through the tiny town so we took the opportunity to relax in the, as it turned out, absolutley freezing waters of the mountain river. After nearly half and hour of wading through the water skimming the ball back & forth to one another I noticed a flash of light right next to my foot. I reached down & pulled out a three-prong fish hook & held it aloft. Philip & I decided it was time to hop out & as we clammered up onto the bank I commented that the way this walk around the world has gone, in the past I would've found the hook by treading on it. I then leaned back & placed my left arm directly into stinging nettles... You just have to laugh some times. I just can't win. I was left with a sting that lasted well into the evening but it was, after all, better than having a fish hook through my toe. That evening I said goodbye to the 'fellowship' & next morning headed off at 5am for the final mountain ascent of this journey. Just as I completed the mountain traverse & was pulling into a town 42km from the place I started at, I bumped back into Oisin (the Irishman) who has also been pushing into some long distance walking. We looked around for a Saturday evening mass but concluded that the best option was to walk another 10km down the road to Samos where there was a Benedictine Monasterey. Two of the pilgrims we meet along the way turned out to be priests so it had a great sense of the 'old ways' as we journied together towards the celebration of mass. There are more & more pilgrims on the road everyday now & personal space can be difficult to find. I've witnessed a number of clashes of personality this week as well. One pilgrim, Dean, is doing it on horseback & while I was chatting with him on the side of the street in a tiny village a shop owner came out & opened up with the most profane language as he told Dean & his horse where to go. Dean was incensed & handed the reigns to a German pilgrim standing nearby as he went into the shop after the shopkeeper. The arguement was heated & the poor old German pilgrim had no idea what to do with the horse. He looked up at everyone else standing there & simply commented, "I'm holding a horse." Dean was eventually back & road off quietly (into the sunset). At other times I've seen pilgrims & hostel owners enter heated exchanges but the pearlers are always the ones between pilgrims at 5:30 in the morning. Namely, those trying to sleep until 6:30am & those who couldn't give a stuff if anyone is trying to sleep or not. For many, I think it's the first time they've stepped outside their own home & the concept of 'other people' just hasn't sunk in yet. The funny one was while I was talking with Evan from New York. We were chatting in a hostel kitchen when a young man came in, grabed a glass, turned the tap on & had a drink of water. He then walked back out, leaving the tap running full. The look on Evan's face was priceless as he contemplated what he was looking at before reaching over & turning the tap off. He was speechless. The other funny thing I've had to get used to here is the language. I learnt a lot of Spainish while walking through South & Central America but I hadn't realised how different the accent is here. Throughout the America's, the number 5 & 11, for example, are pronounced as "sin-co" & "on-ze" respectively. Here though, it's pronounced as "thin-co" & "on-the". I couldn't believe it that all these people had lisps! "That's three people in a row now who have a lisp! What's going on?" Hmmm, I've now learnt that the accent is quiet different... and no one has a lisp. So, from here I have around 4days of walking to Santiago de Compestela where I will meet with mum & dad again before heading off for the final 3days out to Cape Finesterre on the Atlantic coastline. A lot of prayer still to be prayed, but the kilometres on foot will possibly be over be this time next week. See you then I hope. God bless, Sam.
"The end of a matter is better than its beginning, & patience is better than pride." Ecclesiastes 7:8
ps: A big hello to everyone in Malta!

Family, a Serpants Head & Relativism

Hello from Ledigos, somewhere in between Burgos & Leon. 'Somewhere' for the simply reason that I spend a good portion of my day not having a single idea of where I am. Two mornings in a row now the sun has inexplicably risen in the 'north'. I have thus concluded that I have no sense of direction out here amongst the wheat-covered hills, I'm just following the signs to Santiago. This past week had a huge suprise install that had me somewhat speechless. I left Santo Domingo just after sunrise & walked out towards the egde of town with 2 Irishmen I'd met the day before. As we approached a quiet intersection in the tiny village I spotted a man & a woman standing on the opposite side of the road with their backpacks on the ground beside them as they sipped their morning coffee. I thought to myself, "Wow, that woman looks like my mum," & continued chatting with Pat & Oisin. As we crossed the road though the man & woman motioned towards me & smiled. I don't know how long it took to register but a state of confusion set in as I finally recognised them. It was indeed, my mum & dad, standing on the corner of the tiny Spanish village, sipping coffee. The last time I saw them was in November of 2006 so it has been a long time, shall we say, between drinks. I was so confused. It's all part of a conspiracy that seems to grow larger everytime I talk to someone. I had received an email 2weeks ago from a good friend, Luke McCormack, informing me that he had a good mate over here in Europe who would be keen to catch me as he passed through Burgos. Luke told me to be at the Cathedral steps at 9am on my rest day but didn't pass on any contact details for 'Stephen & Jenny Russell', his friends. I smelled a rat straight away. Luke is meticulous when it comes to planning so I immediately assumed that I would in fact be meeting Luke himself instead of these suspicious friends of his who have no contact details. What I didn't realise was that Luke was a part of something a little better thought out than I gave him credit for. My parents had flown to Europe for there first holiday since about 1949, taken a cruise to Malta & then followed my itinerary to Santo Domingo... & waited. If they missed me, the Cathedral in Burgos had been set up as the back-up. Between leaving Tasmania & arriving in Santo Domingo I happened to be a good son & phone home. Twice. In relation to mum & dad's where abouts my brother, Chris, & older sister, Sophie, successfully lied to me & so it came as one almighty confusing shock to see them standing there. After a very quick 1hr reunion on the side of the street I was back into the walking as mum & dad headed via bus to the next town to organise some accomodation & food fpr the evening. It has been fantastic to see them. Unfortunately dad has been hit by some form of gastro & so spent the first few days being very sick. I've continued walking & they've continued busing it to the next destination. I'm out of bus territory tonight so we'll meet back up tomorrow again hopefully. Mum & dad did make it 'onto the track' for yesterday's walk though & with a day up my sleeve we were able to take it slow as dad fought out 26km in 32degC heat. Not bad for a guy who has spent most of the past 7days either in bed or locked in the bathroom. Mum had one pace & it wasn't dad's so every so often she had to sit & smell the flowers until we caught back up. Dad nicked my walking poles for the day & loved them. I'm glad he did because I love them too. Guess what your getting for christmas dad? Get your own poles... :-) Mum & dad staying here in Spain until the end of the journey & will duck off everynow & then to be tourists but return in time for the final week. When I was a little tacker I could always rely on mum & dad to cheer me over the finish line no matter what I was doing; and they're still doing it. It's a great way to bring in the end of this particular journey. Haha, I have to comment though on mum's first 2 questions - "So are you going to continue these adventures or have you been cured?" and "So... who are you going to marry when you get home?" Does anyone else have a mum like this?? Dad just sits there & smiles. Now, the 2 Irishmen I mentioned, Pat & Oisin, they've played a huge role this week as well as we walked for 3 or 4 days side by side. They'd met only a day before I met them but the 3 of us had similar backgrounds & enjoyed each others company. Both are family men so spent a good majority of their time talking of their loved ones. I invited them to join me in some time of prayer as we walked & they eagerly accepted, which for Pat was the first time in a very long time. We prayed for around 15minutes that first day & then found ourselves having a discussion about prayer itself. While we were chatting away, Oisin, who is terrified of snakes, stepped right on top of a poisonous adder but thankfully had snapped his foot away before it was able to get it's fangs anywhere near him. The snake was writhing & as Oisin backed further away I checked the snake out to find that Oisin had split the adder's side wide open. It was a fatal wound so I told the guys I'd put it out of it's misery. I lowered my boot carefully & pushed down hard, crushing its head. Then Pat piped up, "Hey guys! This is really significant! Here we are, having just prayed together & then talking about prayer & you've crushed the serpants head!" Pat's eyes were wide open (Oisin was keen to still move further away), "I have to tred on it too!" The poor snake was pretty much dead but Pat was as keen as mustard to be a part of what was a very symbolic moment. Whereas I lowered my boot cautiously onto the snake, Pat practically jump on it & vigorously twisted his foot from side to side to make sure the job was done. As he lifted his foot triumphantly though it was with a certain amount of confusion that we were left with nothing but the gravel road. "Umm, Pat, I think it's stuck to the bottom of your boot, mate." I've never seen a guy shake his leg so quickly & yes, it dig eventually peel off & flop to the ground. As 'co-incidental' as it may have been, it did stand as a very symbolic moment for us, particularly for Pat who was rediscovering prayer. Over the next few days we continued to walk, talk & pray for christian unity & in particular, their families. Pat only had a week here in Spain so has had to end his time here & return to Limerick but Oisin is still striding out & getting faster & faster. I met Oisin on a hill top over-looking a vast expanse of wheat & barley fields & he was struggling badly with a siezed knee. He's a physical education teacher & not too keen on the whole giving up notion & has actually now ploughed through the pain into some more painless days. He's a pretty tough nut. There are many people out here walking to Santiago de Compostela & so the conversations obviously vary greatly. In the last 4days I've had a conversation with an atheist who believed that praying for christian unity was intolerant of other people's beliefs, a christian who believed that praying for unity & being Catholic was hypocritcal & an agnostic who wanted to know why on earth I'd put so much effort into anything associated with the Church. The first conversation was difficult because the fellow was a very philosophical & 'spiritual' man who, I thought, didn't actually believe in anything. He believed that Jesus was a wise man but that his message had been twisted by Christians. "The most important thing," he told me, "is that we do good in the world." I told him I thought that his view was very relativistic & by whose standards was he going to do good?" He actually conceeded that point but that was the only one. It was a very long discussion that finally ended with him saying, "Let us breathe deeply & be at one," and me saying, "God bless." He thought I was being intolerant of other belief systems & I thought he was ignoring them & was looking for spirituality without the need for faith or responsibility. We swaped reading material & addresses so the conversation may not be over yet. It's always difficult to enter a conversation that begins with an accusation but the third conversation began with a question so it was already on a differnt footing. With my mum & dad snug in their hotel for the night, I took up my spot on the pilgrim house (Albergue) floor on one of the mattreses. The young lady setting up next to me knew who I was & after I'd commented about the long night ahead due to the already resounding snors echoing through the room, she began to ask a few questions about what I was doing & why. That was at about 10pm. By 2:30am we were still whispering back & forth about God, the Church, prayer & theology but the old eye lids were starting to get heavy. I'd organised to meet mum & dad at 7am so I was carrying a thumping headache that morning as another day on the road wavered precariously on only 4hours sleep. That happened to be the day mum and dad joined me though so I was happy to be walking at dad's pace. I've noticed that the number of people signed up to pray at 4:01 has jumped by over 50 this week (compared to the normal 5 ot 6 a week) so for whatever reason this is, thankyou to whoever may have had a hand in spreading the invitation! It's 10:40pm right now & time for me to be in bed so I'll post some photos & jump to it. Goodnight & God bless! Sam
"I have given you authority to trample on snakes & scorpions & to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you." Luke 10:19

Spilled Blood & God's Goodness

Spain... the final frontier. A belated hello from Lagroño in northern Spain! Sorry for the omission last week & thankyou for the prayers & concern of those wondering where I was. It was simply a case of no internet available, so thankyou to Chris for posting a blog on my behalf (I should've known he wouldn't be able to not help himself to a few personal side comments). So, 2 weeks have past since I left Toulouse & it feels like a month has past. The first night out from Toulouse I had a young man, Nils, find me accomodation in the church offices (thanks mate) where I was able to quickly check my email. Confusingly, I discovered a stack of emails either congratulating me or questioning me about my engagement! I have a facebook account & I had, while in Toulouse, changed me facebook 'relationship status' to "Engaged to my backpack", but all that showed up on my facebook profile was "engaged" so I had to very quickly difuse the bomb! With that out of the way & my profile changed I headed on towards Auch where I met with a fellow called Charles & his good mate Jean. Charles is leading the Toulouse World Youth Day pilgrim group & had been notified of me passing through by Tim Davis & a french girl, Sophie, who work for the Melbourne Archdiocese. Charles was on the ball quickly & drove out to meet me for a restaraunt dinner 100km from his home. Jean lived down the road from Auch so Charles had called him up & organised for me to stay with him & his wife on their family estate. The estate was fantastic & their hospitality supurb. It was very close to being a holiday! Quickly back to the restaraunt dinner, Charles & Jean were keen for me to try some local produce so I had a choice of Duck's liver or garlic Snails. I chose the snails. And it actually tasted all right. Not sure I'll ever order them again but hey, if I ever have a desperate night out in the wilderness again perhaps I won't go hungry? So long as I have access to boiling water & a bucket full of garlic. Jean organised for me to meet the mayor of a town I was passing through the next day, Mirande, & so a little media attention was given to the walk & thankfully the oppurtunity to extend the inivtation to pray for unity went out just that little bit further. A gentleman I met at Jean's organised accomodation for me in Tarbes (the next town) with the Colonel family & Charles organised accomodation for me for 2days in Lourdes (the next town again). So all up it was one of the most spoilt weeks for accomodation since Montana & Canada. As I was approaching Lourdes I did have a bit of a slip up that could have ended worse than it did. As is normal when being human, I needed a toilet break, but with nothing in sight & a very steep embankment on both sides of the road with thick forest along them, I had to opt for the one path 'out of sight' that I could find - a steep, 10m high concrete culvert where the road passed over a small river. I left my backpack & poles at the top & began my descent. After about, say, 50cm, I got that sinking feeling that I had misjudged the steepness & with an inocent, "Oh-ohh" my feet shot out from under me & I slide on my back down the conrete slippery slide. The next problem was that the hole at the base of the concrete culvert where the water flows through was around 5m wide with only a 1m section of conrete actually touching down on the ground. As I slid down with greater speed I was slightly on target for the tunnel edge & so to manoeuvre away from a fall off the edge into the river I had to use my hands to steer myself. Concrete:1, Skin on my Hands:Nil. My hands weren't designed for steering down concrete slabs. Thankfully though, I touched down with a gentle thud at the bottom corner, away from the drop into the river & with only slightly bloodied hands. Yes, they were bleeding & may I say, I was left with quite a sting indeed! I tried to shake the pain out (it sort of worked) & then lamented my descent & how on earth I was ever going to climb back up. I quickly went to the toilet (that is what I'd gone there for after all) & then tried to scale back to me gear but didn't ever make it past the first metre. The option left for me was to walk back up through the steep blacberry-covered forest floor. Bleeding hands on the way down, bleeding legs on the way back up. Well, that was fun. What stupid thing can I do around the next corner? I bought a new backpack cover this week as my old one was no longer water proof. The only one available though was an army disposal's camouflage cover so I'm a little concerned about my visibilty from behind while it's raining. I'm wearing khaki trousers so from the back I look like not much at all (photo to the right). It has actually rained a lot over the past few weeks so it's come in handy & it works well so for that I'm very pleased. While staying with the Colonel family in Tarbes I had a late shower just as they were heading off to bed & in a moment of un-co-ordination managed to lose my grip on the soap & as if in slow motion it made a direct line for my enflamed, fleshy left big toe (yes, the toe is still there but only just). As it hurtled towards my constant agony I snatched my foot away to the side but only succeeded in smashing it into the shower wall with uncompromising force. Blood interspersed with the shower's water immediately & I was left nearly convulsing as I silently screamed the worse shower scene scream since 'Psycho'. A silent scream because everyone was going to bed, but my mouth was agasp for at least 10seconds & my body didn't stop shaking for another minute. It was a long time before that soap block was picked up again. Once in Lourdes I settled in for a tightly scheduled rest day with a series of tasks needing attention. Firstly was a series of forms for a backstage pass at World Youth Day (I'm speaking on a few of the days) & then the processing of all the dvd's from this journey so far. The original camera, which used tape, was stolen in Costa Rica & replaced with a dvd camera. I didn't know that I had to formalise each disc before sending them back to Australia so poor Brendan (Mr Editor) had to bundle them all up & send them to me in France. I collected them, finalised them & bundled them back to him so hopefully something will be ready for World Youth Day. Lourdes is a fascinating place where a series of apparitions & thousands of miracles have seen people flocking to the place for nearly 150years. The basic gist is that Mary, the mother of Jesus, in a particular appariton, asked a young girl to do penace for the return of sinners to Christ. The act of penace was to drink from a muddy pool, which the young girl did, & from there burst a spring of natural fresh water, which continues to flow today. Like a modern day 'Serpent on the Staff' (book of Exodus) there have been thousands of healings attributed to pouring on or submersion in the water with the expectation of healing. There were people everywhere. Ten's of thousands of people; Young & old, walking, limping, in wheelchairs, on crutches, with problems left, right & centre. I fitted in well. I went to a Chinese mass first of all & then made my way down to the running spring. I'd washed all my clothes the night before & they still hadn't dried so despite it being only 8degC I was pottering around in shorts & flip-flops. I'd been very catiously making my way through the crowds trying to keep my toe out of harm's way but at last I was standing on the edge of the running stream. I actually didn't want to even try at first but after a quick prayer & a "Jesus, I trust you" I decided that I'd better get my toe in there if I was to finish this walk. I slipped my left flip-flop off & let the water pour over it... & waited. I'm not sure what I was expecting but nothing happened. I prayed again, that what ever happened I would accept, but that I would like it to finally be healed, please. I limped on from Lourdes towards the beautiful Pyrenees & at around that time you should've been hearing from me but it was the wrong part of the world to try & find internet access. I couldn't even find a mass that weekend!! I walked 20-predawn-km to make it to a possible mass on the Sunday morning only to find that it was being held in another town out of my reach. There was confirmation (baptism in the Spirit) that weekend so everyone had come together in one place. One place where I was not. Once at the foot of the Pyrenees I was told that my destination the following day on top of the mountain range had closed that very day for the rest of the season (it's a ski village). This left me with 2 options; sleep in my tent at 1800m above sea level or walk 53km across the Pyrenees to the first major Spanish town. I opted to walk & so with an early night I rose at 4:30am & started my ascent in the dark. It was fantastic. It was seriously supurb. The road I was walking along had an average of only one car every 30mins & it was surrounded by the most breathe-taking mountains, vallies & rivers I've passed through on this whole walk. The steepness of the road was also breathe-taking, literally. At around 1300m, while I was spending some time in prayer, I walked up into the thick clouds & continued upwards. I could hear cow bells ringing at times but nothing else. It was cool, damp, white & quiet. By the time I made my first stop at 11am I was sitting at 1804m above sea level & 27km from my point of origin. Not a bad first leg. It was getting colder by the minute though & without my Canada/Russia winter gear I resorted to wearing my spare socks on my hands as I commenced the downward section into Spain. Eventually I descended from the clouds & was met by an awesome view of a tree filled valley with rocky escarpments surrounding it & 5 eagles doing circle-work over the far mountain. Then the clouds swept down & I was once again surrounded by 'whiteness'. A few hours later I was back in sunshine & looking down a steep, winding section of road that wound back & forth for around 3km. The section in between the first 2 bends was cushy mountain grass so without too much hesitation (& obviously having already forgotten about my cement descending attempt) I jumped the saftey barrier & like one of those Frenchman chasing the roling disc of cheese down the mountain side & gathered speed with ease. Unlike the Frenchman who chase the roling disc of cheese down a mountain side, I did it with finese & didn't fall! I also did it slower, but it was so much fun. All the pressure was going through my heals so the toe was fine for once but after a few succesful traverses I was faced with a thickening pine forest that offered new obstacles. As I crossed the road into a very thick section I wondered if this was bear territory (the Pyrenees are home to many bears). I thought it unlikely & continued on, weaving through the trees. There a fewer things that get me out of a happy 'mountain descending' frame of mind than trotting past enormous foot-prints that have made a 30cm depression in soft ground that I'm only making a 5cm depression in. So... looks like it's the road from here! I shot out of there quicker than you can say, "You idiot" & found myself standing on the edge of a 4m drop down to the roadside. Hmmm, my dumbness surrounds me. The road had been cut into the mountain side for that entire length of road so after a quick contemplation of walking back up the mountain side through the soggy 'what are those footprints' ground I thankfully found a pine tree growing from the roadside up along the face of the road cutting. I reached out, grabbed hold & climbed down. Note to self: Let go of the walking poles before climbing down a tree - two hands makes it easier. How on earth am I still alive? Anyway, I was on my way again & still enjoying the whole 53km. I continued to pray & of course, sing (great echoes in places). It was a very easy place to give thanks to God. Spain was imediately different to France with the forests & green pastures giving way to dry, thorn bush covered slopes. I'm now on the Camino de Santiago for the final 3weeks of the journey but I've had trouble with accomodation over the last few nights. I have with me 5 offical letters of recomendation from christian leaders but it counts for nothing here. They want to see a pilgrim's passport with stamps from the visited churches in it so I've actually been rejected from a few places for not being a proper pilgrim. No, I'm not here for the same reason everyone else is but I still need a bed. Thankfully, each rejection has been followed by the person calling me back & at last offering me a bed. I wanted to make a stand & not aquire a passport but I remembered a certain teaching about chritianity not being about self-assertion, so today I found a priest, Fr Carlos, who, after I'd explained my predicament, was very happy to issue me a pilgrims passport & send me on my way with his blessing. The place I stayed in last night has had 900 people pass through it in the last 2weeks so I am meeting many, many people on the road. I spent the first few days taking the quiet country roads, avoiding the crowds, but today I mustered up the courage to actually walk on the pilgrim route with other people in front & behind & I quite enjoyed it. It's probably a good one for my doctor of psychology sister, but after walking alone for so long, the stream of people on the camino was actually a bit threatening. I've met some great people in the last few days though so I'm warming to the idea of having others around me while I walk & pray & I spent some time walking with a Korean man this morning followed by two young gents from Laramie, Wyoming (I passed through Laramie 7months ago!). Last night I sat at a table with an Episcopal from Austin, Texas, & a Free Evangelical from Norway & we discussed life, walking & eventually unity. The Norwegian fellow asked what the theological differences between christians really were & so piece by piece we each started listing & discussing areas of difference & thankfully all with an air of lightness. The Norwegian fellow made an insightful comment at the end though, "Wow, we actually have a lot more in common than not." That was a good place for us to wrap up & head for dinner. I went to mass a few days ago & just as the celebration started I stood up (as is normal) & in doing so slid my feet forward under the pew but cracked my left foot into one of the pew's stands. The corner of the stand under the pew connected right on the wound on my right toe (I was back in flip-flops) & as everyone else sang the opening hymn I was left once again convulsing in agony as every vein in my body protruded further & further out. From behind it must have looked like I was having a seizure. The pain was intense & when I eventually looked down I saw a small pool of blood forming on the church floor. I can tell you, I didn't move much for the next 30mins & communion was a slow & taxing affair as the blood trickled under my toe & began to stick my foot to the flip-flops. Here's the deal though. The last 2days have been the first since my toe gave way in Italy where it has not hurt during the days walking at all. It's actually healing over. I've averaged over 40km a day this past week but the toe has actually began to heal over even though I've split it wide open twice. No more pain, no infection... less & less blood at the end of the day. All in God's good time. Now this is a 'graduation' (end of the journey) gift indeed! Onwards from here to Burgos & hopefully in 23days time I'll be wrapping this journey up on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Sorry for the long blog but it was 2weeks worth :-) God bless & please keep praying for the unity of the body of Christ. Sam.
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:4

No internet, Where's sam and here is Christopher

hello but not from Sam. It's Christopher his Lil bro here (back in Tasmania) and I've taken over. No not really, Sam gave me a very quick call and asked if i could just place this blog up to let every one know that he is OK. There just happens to be no Internet in the area he is in at the moment, or for the next week. Sam has crossed the Pyrenees and is now in Spain. He is now two days ahead of schedule due to very poor weather up in the Pyrenees, so as usual decided to walk two days in one. He said lots of cows with bells, and the highest mountain he climbed was 1800 meters. I didn't receive much more information than that due to Sam ringing from an expensive pay phone. Sam will be back soon. But for now, good bye from Christopher the more handsome and younger clear boy.