Day 15 on the Camino Way

What a Morning!

Sally and I set out around 7:30 on a wonderfully cool and fresh morning. We had a good night’s sleep, our blisters are healing, and we were feeling strong. There was a sharp incline to start the day’s hike, then it leveled off and was relatively smooth sailing.

Getting Strong Now

The hill is off in the distance. We agree that we were going to power up it—no stopping until the top. And then this happened.

So Good

And we followed them up.

I especially want you to hear the man on the hand-crank bike as he struggles to get up that hill. Yes, he is being pushed and pulled, but he is the one powering up this hill. When he gets to the top, he is completely wrecked—breathing heavily, covered in sweat, and laughing and crying all at the same time. I did not record this—didn’t seem appropriate. Know what I mean?

John, Paul, George and Ringo

Later, on a straight stretch, I asked if they knew about the Beatles. After some language struggles and my singing ”I get by with a little help from my friends. I try with a little help from my friends.” They all nodded their heads. (It was the singing, no doubt.)

One of them said, ”We don’t try, we do!”

Now that sounds good doesn’t it? But, my friends, I don’t like that sentiment. I get it. And I hope this doesn’t feel to you as any kind of harsh criticism. I just don’t like it. The gentleman on the bike would not even try this without help. He couldn’t do it! It would be impossible without help.

He is literally getting by with a little help from his friends. And I would submit—so are we!

Help Me If You Can I’m Feeling Down

When we need help we are not asking someone to do something for us, but with us. This biker is being pulled and pushed, but he is also pushing himself and pulling his own weight. You heard him! He’s doing this very hard thing, this impossible act, but he is not doing it on his own. And the reason he is not doing this on his own is because he can’t.

We can almost NEVER ”Just do it!” (And I like that tag line a lot.) Anything that we do, we only do with someone helping us. And it’s okay to seek and accept help. In fact, without help there is almost nothing we CAN do. Sally and I are trying to walk 500 miles in 35 days without any rest days in between. We couldn’t have made it through the first three days with the help of friends. And without water stations and little shops and coffee bars and people pointing out the way and all the pilgrims with us on the road and good shoes and walking poles and back packs, there is no way we could finish this. Just no way!

We are fortunate to have good bodies—not everyone is. We know this. And we do not take this for granted, nor do we think we are special because we do. I have people I love who would love to be by my side right now, but can’t—just can’t. They cannot do this—cannot even try this. That’s just reality.

We Don’t Try We Do! That’s what He said

See the guy fixing the gear chain on the bike? He’s not one of the crew. He’s a guy who was walking by and heard them talking about a problem with the chain. And he knew how to fix it. So he helped them. Hugs all around—applause—seriously, we all applauded.

We don’t try, we do. But not without help we don’t. We all need a little pull or a little push from time to time, in fact, most of the time. Leanne VanDyk, one of our early companions—they deserted us!—texted me today with these words: ”Marlin, I think the accomplishment is more internal then external, don’t you?” I do. And a big part of the internal is being willing to accept help when you need it. And we all need it and almost all the time. Don’t you think?

There’s this popular Christian saying, ”With God nothing is impossible.” But that’s only true if God has people helping. Because, believe this or not, like this or not, even God needs help. Actually, there’s very little that God can do alone. And if that’s so for God, then … The earth is on fire, at war, at odds over silly stuff, competing for the bounty there for everyone, hoarding, building bigger machines to kill more people and on and on and on—and God can’t do anything about it except implore us to join in the struggle to save it all.

No where Man Please Listen

Crazy piece of art, right? I found it in the church in Fromista, the town where we are spending the night. It’s a Pentecost painting. I’ve seen many just like it in churches in Israel/Palestine. Don’t be distracted by Mary in the middle—Mary is in the middle of a lot of Catholic art. Notice that the dove, the Holy Spirit, is pouring out fire on the folks gathered. And why is the Spirit doing this? Because what else is there to do? I have to believe that the Divine Spirit wants to make the world the best world the world can be. And how is the Spirit to do that? Well, you know—through people helping the Divine do divine-like stuff. Stuff like this stuff.

So help others when you can, and let others do the same for you. Yeah?

Buen Camino!