Camino Log: May 20, 2019
From Foncebadón to Ponferrada
Since I began the Camino, I’ve seen my share of rocks! I’ve walked atop them, tripped over them, and stumbled upon them. And, all over the place, my fellow pilgrims have written messages on rocks, spelled out words with rocks, and stacked rocks in all sorts of configurations. Human beings have been stacking and/or arranging rocks to mark special places since humans first began to take note of such places.
I haven’t stacked any rocks along the Way, but this morning I added a rock to a pile of rocks left by pilgrims over the centuries. I brought my rock from home. This was a rock I collected from the shore of Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula when Tabitha, Matthew and I vacationed there during my last sabbatical in 2011.
According to Camino lore, the rock a pilgrim carries represents her/his burden. By leaving the rock at “La Cruz de Ferro” (Cross of Iron), the pilgrim lightens her/his load…both literally and metaphorically. As it turns out, there is plenty of lore around the Cross of Iron. The Cross sits atop a pole at almost the highest point of the Camino. Some sort of marker has been at this particular location for centuries. A 9th century hermit is credited with affixing the cross to the top of the pole to reclaim the site for Christians.
At any rate, as I’ve carried my rock in my pocket since April 25, I have thought and thought about the burden that I would cast upon the pile of rocks when I arrived at La Cruz de Ferro. And today was the day. I arrived at the Cross just after sunrise. The waning moon was setting in the west. The temperature was perfect. The wind was calm.
There weren’t many people ahead of me. I lingered at the foot of the Cross. And then I knew. I knew what I would leave behind. I would leave behind the burden of “self-improvement.”
I have been trying to be a better me since I was twelve years old. I distinctly remember going to the public library as a 6th grader, and looking in the card catalogue (yes, I’m that old!) for the subject, “Improving Your Personality.” For some reason, even as a little kid, I felt like I wasn’t quite the person I could be. So now, a half of a century later, at a spot in Spain, I tossed away my constant need to be better, and the accompanying affliction of self-deprecation.
The reality is, I’m not a perfect person, but I’m not a total wreck either. I’m just me. And I don’t need to be anyone else. And that’s enough.
My favorite hymn since I was a kid is “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” I cry every time I sing it. And my favorite verse talks about a rock! Only in newer versions of the hymn, the verse about the rock is edited, because the hymn editors suppose 21st century Christians aren’t biblically literate enough to know the reference. Here’s the verse:
“Here I raise my Ebenezer, Here there by Thy great help I’ve come; And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home!
Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God; He, to rescue me from danger, Interposed His precious blood.”
So what’s an “Ebenezer?” Here’s the reference from the Scriptures: “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, and named it Ebenezer; for he said, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’”— 1 Samuel 7:12
“Thus far the Lord has helped us!” — that seems an appropriate slogan for my fellow pilgrims and me!
As we descended from the foot of the Cross, we walked through beautiful scenery. We saw LOTS of flowers. And even though the walk was steep and the Way was difficult, we were all lighter. We had left our burdens behind. We had turned our faces towards new possibilities. We didn’t need to be perfect pilgrims or perfect people. One step at a time — on the Way, as in life — is enough. Thanks be to God!
“Oh to grace how great a debtor, Daily I’m constrained to be! Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it! Prone to leave the God I love! Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it; Seal it for Thy courts above!”
