Day 20- Calm Before The Storm

Today was perhaps the easiest day of the last 3 weeks. The weather cooperated. The Camino was of firm ground and easy to traverse. And it was the shortest distance to date. I accepted the easiness I was presented and just enjoyed my walk. Days 22-27 will not be so accommodating.

Today chaples and cathedrals dominated. I had read about a chapel connected to a palace not too far off the Camino. Built in the 15th century the Palacio de Meres and La Capilla de Santa Ana- were they worth deviating from the green dots? I decided they just might be. Sometimes I get so focused on a goal I blind myself as to what’s around me (I’ve talked about this before). On the Camino, I am trying to slow down and open my mind and heart to what exists around me but not on my agenda or even in the way of it. This was one of those moments. I broke out my picture of Fr. Bill King (one of the trinkets I talked about in the first post). Bill and I took in the chapel and all its beauty. Bill loved art. He traveled the world (as best as a Jesuit could) going from museum to museum. I knew he appreciated the artistry inside this chapel. Soon I entered Oviedo, founded in the 8th Century. For a time it was the Catholic capital of Spain. Oviedo has a number of stunning aged structures including a Benedictine monastery I plan to go to in a few minutes for Vespers. For me, miracles exist in little moments. For instance (no lie), the other day my plantar fasciitis acted up in the ball of my right foot and the pain announced itself in grand fashion. I encountered a chapel and decided to go in and pray for family and friends. When I walked out of the chapel, the pain in my foot was gone. I’m not sayin…..I’m just saying…. What caused the pain to go away on its own in such a short time? I didn’t even ask God to ease my pain. Something caused the pain to stop. Now I am not the guy who God talks to directly. I’m not the guy who gets visits from angels, saints, or spirits of people long passed. I have to lean on my faith for my proof there is a God. Little miracles and more importantly identifying them when they present themselves feeds my soul and strengthens my faith in God. Time spent in these churches on this Camino, lift my spirits and renew me in other ways. Miracles surround me. I just need to be open enough to recognize them. While the pictures below do not do them justice, they are still worth a peek at what I was able to enjoy.