Connections and meetings.

Over and over again we run into folks we have seen in the past.  One wouldn't think this is unsual since we are all of the same trail but a moving object will more likely bumb into a stationary object rather than a moving obese.  A clock which is stopped twice a day reports the correct time.  A clock running fast will not report the correct time until it has caught up 12 hours.   Our meeting of camino friends seem to be less random and more intentionally planed by the universe.  In Ponferreda on our rest day, early one morning we text a family we had met a week earlier to tell them where we were.  We then headed out to a street market and as we entered the main plaza the mom and two daughters entered the far side.   We greeted each other with joy and a little amazement.  What were the chances that we would be the plaza just as they entered the city? There was only a 15 minute window of,there time in the city. 

This sort of thing happened to us a number of times and others reported to us the same experience.  In Pintin, the tiniest of villages which few people stop, we were sitting down to dinner and our friends from Santiago Cal. sat down to in the chairs right next to us.   They took a rest day to recover and we carried on.  This morning as we left our albergue they appeared around the corner.    We walked them the rest of the day. 

But it is more than just chance meetings that seems divinely initiated.  Over and over again we have heard stories of people meeting just who they needed to meet just when they needed it.  The Catalonia who met a surgeon who cared for his terrible blisters and gave wise advise to rest unless he risk losing his toe.  The pilgrim who met someone from their home country just when they needed it the most.  Our own expereince meeting our German friend who needed care and compassion just when we needed a clear reason to pause. The pilgrims who showed up around a corner when we thought we might be off the Camino.  We were on an alternative route with no markers and they were just as confused as we were but together we found our confidence and our way.  

I think these sort of "coincidences" happen all the time in our lives but we miss them or take them for granted.  I have often said that for a person of faith there are no coincidences, rather there is faith and mystery.  When we needed the distraction of new conversation today, our two friends appear and our day rushed by; 18km in no time.  Just a coincidence or gift from the divine.  

I also think these sorts of happenings occur for churches all the time as well and the role of the spiritual leaders within the congregation is to point them out.  When we miss the subtle intervention of the Holy One we miss opportunities to nurture the collective faith of the community. Missing the gift misses the mission.  Missing the gift impoverish our souls.  Disregarding, missing, or explaining away,the serendipitous events starves our souls of sustenance.  

On the Camino our souls are fed because we can feel the spiritual hunger.   A well fed soul gives one strength to endure the climbs of life.  At the end of today's walk a very steep set of stairs welcomed us into town.   With today's nourishment we walked quickly up the steps and took a picture.   Life is good even when there are steep inclines ahead.