9/23 Logroño

The statistics for today are pretty easy. HR max: 72, calories (intake): 8750, miles: 2

One of my medical school instructors was a neurologist named Dr Jerome Freeman. I am not sure where he got it from but I remember him saying, “doctors who ride out on horseback God returns on foot”. The honest physician finds themself humbled many times. I am not saying I was too proud or arrogant in thinking we could walk 20-24 miles/day but I would be happy for the proverbial foot right now to return on. The Camino lesson today might be the reminder that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. (The exegesis on that passage is a little shaky for this application but it is still apropos.) With the time we have and the distance to cover, the math works out pretty well to walk about 20 miles per day. Somewhere my left leg missed the memo or isn’t apparently very good at math. Maybe “feet of clay” (Daniel 2:33) is better exegeted for this circumstance?

So our day was spent in Logroño. It was actually a very nice day and they are in the midst of a 2 week celebration of Saint Matthew (SanMateo). It involved street venders and bands wandering around and a lot of lines. We found that if we just stood in line with people we could usually find something delicious at the end. Logroño, as well as being the Napa Valley of Spain is also a known for chorizo (a tasty sausage). So today we saw and ate a bit of everything. It was a good day but I, of course, felt guilty about not being out limping down the trail. One of those days where you know in your head the right thing but it doesn’t feel right… At least on this end I seem to be the only one fussing about it. I have a really good traveling partner.

It was fun to have a day of rest. I guess our Sabbath in this case was a Monday. I hope it will be enough to get us back recovering on the trail. The highlight of the day for me was just stopping in this big beautiful church of San Nicolas. It is an obviously old church but still functioning as an active parish. I was struck with the thought of how many people must have invested time and treasure to lovingly build and maintain the site over the centuries. How much effort went in to trying to make a space with beauty to lift their spirits, and express their hopes, and honor God?

I wondered too what it would be like to have a space to worship knowing it was the same space your parents and grandparents and probably great-great-great-great-great…grandparents worshipped in, brought their babies into for baptism, celebrated marriages and said final good-byes to loved ones. We may have a few family heirlooms around, but imagine worshipping in a functional heirloom your family has been a part of for generations and generations…

So, anyway, I hope our Camino goes on down the path tomorrow (for at least SOME miles). I have enjoyed Logroño quite a bit and would be happy to come back here, but I did notice that with the distractions of the city I had a lot less “random” thoughts to dwell on. I miss that part of the walking at least. It’s also obvious that I am the weak link in this paring but we will limp on together.