My good friend, Ron Angert, a Jew who converted to Christianity, has begun a walk on the Camino de Santiago. His trip has taken him from Blacksburg, Virginia to Paris via Atlanta, and on to Morocco.
After visiting Rabat the capital of Morocco he is in Marrakesh, Morocco where he visited the Berber Museum, displaying a culture of which I knew nothing.
From Marrakesh he plans to fly to Barcelona and then bus to St Jean Pied de Port, France from where he will begin his 770 km (478 mile) hike to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, believed to be the resting place of St. James the Apostle.
Ron is going to post daily entries of his travels at https://theotherjew.blogspot.com/
Already his blog has made me more refined and cultured, granted my refinement is just above an East Texas Big Thicket swamp. Most important the blog has provided and will continue to provide a spiritual lift.
Before he began his walk (known also as the Way) Ron’s church pastor, Morris Fleischer, sanctified his trip with the Pilgrim Blessing found on the Camino:
As you follow the Way
May God bless you with discomfort at your own easy answers, half truths, superficial relationships, so that you will learn to live deep within your heart.
As you walk
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people so that you will fill your heart with the desire for justice, equality and peace.
As you carry your load
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you will reach out your hand to comfort them and change their pain into joy.
As you enter the Cathedral at Santiago
May God bless you with the foolishness to think that you can make a difference in the world, so that when you return home you will do the things which others tell you cannot be done.”
May all of us on our Way to sanctification receive these blessings.
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Just after finishing this entry I read an editorial in the August 27, Wall Street Journal quoting a television address of Mohammad VI of Morocco who said, in part:
I call upon [Moroccans living abroad] to be always among the first to defend peace, harmony, and coexistence in their countries of residence….The terrorists who operate in the name of Islam are not Muslims. They have nothing to do with Islam, and jump on the bandwagon to justify their crimes….