Donkeys and the Camino

[Rosina Lila]

Dear Howard MURPHY,
I am sorry about your unpleasant experience and your loss.
One of the most fortunate features of being a Christian is that we are bound to forgive those that harm us.  It is quite fortunate, in my view, because those of us who can forgive do not carry within the spiritual acids of hatred and resentment. It is so much nicer to have a clean conscience and a peaceful soul than a heavy  self-destructive burden of suspicion, hatred, resentment and (gulp!) guilt.  Peace and contentment within is well worth whatever material objects one may have lost.
In this respect I heard a priest say once "it is better to be stolen from than to have to steal".  I wholeheartedly agree with that assessment.
----I'll keep you posted directly, off-list, (and anyone else who may be interested in the details) about the donkey project.  I am enormously interested myself and thought a lot about it on the Camino. Some pilgrims that I met who were injured, or unable to continue because of too heavy a pack, etc., may have finished the pilgrimage if they have had the assistance, and company, of a "burrito".
I read somewhere that when Queen Isabel made the pilgrimage, her entourage followed with a "multitude of donkeys". It is nice to imagine such a scene.
Fond regards,
Rosina