The Pilgrim Gathering 2003

[Kathy Gower]

For those of you who were able to attend and those of you who could not,
this is a brief synopsis and a note of thank you for the event, hosted by
Ozzie and Barbara Overby at Columbia, Missouri...

Lucky for us, the accomodations for most of the 73 pilgrims attending were
right next to one of the main venues, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish hall where
we had dinner together and introduced ourselves by way of a short story
outlining how we had come to make the pilgrimage to Santiago and to find
ourselves gathered to tell the tale from all over the US and Canada.  The
Overby's daughter, Katy, had even composed a ballet from music sent from
Pieter after the last gathering in Williamsburg.  Brava!

Dvid Gitlitz, Professor and Camino scholar, spoke the next day on The
Compostela Pilgrimage in the Context of World Pilgrimages, a wonderful
situating of our Camino in the larger world of journeys to and through
sacred spaces.  He spoke of places of mysterious power (Carnac, Uluru &
Ayers Rock, Shikoku and the Snake Mound, here in the US, for starters. We
heard about the retracing of sacred steps and historical events and a
transcendence that resides in tangible relics and so much more.

Anne Stanton and Margaret Skoglund, Medieval and Renaissance scholars added
to the depth of the knowledge about the Camino with slide presentations of
monuments from the French and Spanish pilgrimage roads.  All were on hand
later for questions about the art history and various different routes
traveled by the pilgrims gathered, as well as even yoga for pilgrims.

Our final dinner together was very much like a celebration in Santiago with
Galician wines and even Coquilles St. Jacques with the attendent scallop
shell being rinsed and distributed to us after dinner.  It was a feast for
the body and the soul as Karin Temple, a poet, and Robert Ward read to us
from their books on the Pilgrim's Way.

Thank you once again, Ozzie and Barbara, for a wonderful event.  Some of us
walked the Katy Trail and even went on to journey a replica of the Chartres
labyrinth set up in the Overby front yard.

The next Pilgrim Gathering, according to Lin Galea and Zita Macy will be in
Santa Barbara, California at the Mission there, March 19th to 21st, 2004
with the possibility of the Cursillo de Preparacion, or hospitalero training
either before or after the event.  We'll keep you posted.  (zmacyaaol.com to
be put on the mailing list)

Kathy










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