<P>If you want to walk, party, and drink lots of wine then go somewhere else. The Camino is a sacred place full of literally millions of people´s hopes, dreams, questions, pain, epiphanies, growth. Treat it as you would a holy place for it is indeed a living church made of the souls of people from all the world.
<P> <B><I>Douglass Norvell <norvellaNAUVOO.NET></I></B> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">What if I don't want to feel the sting of burning questions?<BR><BR>What if I just want to walk, party and drink lots of wine?<BR><BR>Should I still do the Meseta?<BR><BR>Douglass Norvell<BR><BR>----- Original Message -----<BR>From: Michael P. Barham <MPB5aDUKE.EDU><BR>To: <GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU><BR>Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2003 11:54 AM<BR>Subject: Don't hop on the bus through the mesate<BR><BR><BR>> I highly recommend NOT skipping the mesata -- it is part of the<BR>pilgrimage.<BR>> In fact, I will be preaching on that this coming Ash Wednesday.<BR>><BR>> I have found most people confuse boredom with inner struggle. The reality<BR>> of such wide open, flat spaces means we lose the distraction of figuring<BR>out<BR>> where to put our feet. The mesata is where people can really start<BR>feeling<BR>> the sting of the burning questions or concerns prompting them to w!
alk in<BR>the<BR>> first place. It is easier to avoid such needed self-evaluation and inner<BR>> contemplation when you are basking in the beauty of mountains or<BR>constantly<BR>> worrying about where to put your feet so you don't trip.<BR>><BR>> However, it takes a willingness to engage with ones self, and not look<BR>> peripherally at life -- we are so used to not allowing things to effect<BR>us,<BR>> we put up barriers. If we take those down, I think we can find the<BR>routine<BR>> and simplicity of the Mesata offers us a great beauty. But, then again,<BR>> most of us are used to what the media tell us is beautiful, or that<BR>complex<BR>> is beautiful, so we fail to look for the inner beauty of things -- perhaps<BR>I<BR>> am suggesting nature has an inner beauty as well as a superficial one.<BR>><BR>> In preparation for the meseta, may I suggest the book, The Solace of<BR>Fierce<BR>> Landscapes: Exploring Desert and Mountain Spi!
ritualit, by Lane. Pilgrim<BR>at<BR>> Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard is also good for helping us think about how<BR>> any part of nature can be inspiring if we open ourselves to it -- but,<BR>then<BR>> the romantics like Thoreau tought us that too.<BR>><BR>> If you have to skip some, I suggest you at least take a couple of days to<BR>> walk in the Meseta, so you begin to get a little of the inner journey<BR>quite<BR>> different from the inner journey experienced walking in less open/flat<BR>> spaces.<BR>><BR>> Pilgrims in the middle ages HAD to experience the Mesata, they didn't have<BR>> the option of a bus -- our taking such liberties, I think, detract from<BR>the<BR>> "pilgrim" experience of having to endure even the parts we don't find<BR>> particularly interesting, hopeful we can learn to see beauty and deepen<BR>> knowledge.<BR>><BR>> There is also a beauty of its own -- listening to the chirp of a bird<BR>carry<BR>> o!
ver seemingly endless space -- we might be reminded of our mortality, but<BR>> we might also experience the infinitude of life (for those who believe in<BR>> eternal/after life).<BR>><BR>> Peace,<BR>> Michael Barham</BLOCKQUOTE>