Wading in..

St. James is chatting again and after a very long and hectic year, I find that my ears are ringing and my feet are itching for a long dusty road. Due to the the school year insanity of students, masses, performances, youth choir and grad school auditions, I am ashamed to admit that I haven't even finished writing about last year's pilgrimage before embarking on the current one... But my pen is too slow for St James!

I leave America with a weary heart. It seems that in the course of this past year, our society has split and fragmented, people shout louder, listen less, and fear drives everything. We seem to be falling further into the muck of distrust, only comfortable in our rejection of that which is the other. 

a few days ago in South Carolina, my husband and his father were in an elevator speaking Hindi when a white man next to them began whistling "Ten little Indians." When did this become acceptable behavior?? How did we get here?  We are so rigid that it seems that the only thing we are capable of accepting is hate and division. I don't understand this openness of hatred but I certainly reject this mindset! It has no place in my life. 

On my first pilgrimage, walking across Spain to Santiago, St. James taught me about myself, my weaknesses and how far I could push myself. During my second pilgrimage in the opposite direction to Rome, St Peter taught me to look past myself and my own desires, and instead, to see those around me with greater clarity. For this pilgrimage, I intend to see not just myself and others, but to also see the space between... and to wade in. 

I refuse to hide at home in fear, I refuse to hate and to deny others the right to be different from me, I refuse to stop learning and growing. 

So my feet will soon be on the path in an unknown world. I will walk from Lisboa to Santiago and St. James and I will see how many smiles we can collect along the way!