Witnessing the giant censer (Botafumeiro) in Santiago Cathedral

As we completed the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, we hoped we may be fortunate enough to witness the Botafumeiro in action. This historical ceremony has been taking place in the Cathedral since the 12th century and is truly epic. 

Botafumeiro literally means 'to expel smoke' and it is a giant censer that is swung from the roof of the cathedral. The current censer weighs about 80 kilograms, is around 1.60 meters tall and takes 8 men to operate. It is usually only in operation on special occasions and Christian holy-days, but we were so blessed to witness this event in person. 

If you would like to watch this incredible event, please follow this link and watch our video. 

If you are in the Fish Hoek area on the 16th of August and would like to come along to our presentation about our Camino experiences, please join us. We are meeting at 6pm in the Methodist Church.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Our travelling stories - check it out!

Forest path in the Spanish province of Asturias

As you may be aware my sabbatical included a lot of different experiences - some of these included the privilege of travelling to Spain (walking the Camino) and hiking in beautiful parts of our South Africa. In order to try and share some of these experiences I have created a website called Travelling Eden. If you are interested in these stories and in any of my ongoing adventures, please pop over to the site and have a look. I would really appreciate it. 

Thanks for your support and encouragement.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Father's Day 2023

Hi everyone - I just wanted to let you know that we are alive and well after our Camino adventures. I am busy trying to sort through thousands of photos (and that's not an exaggeration) and process all that we experienced. Once I have done that, I will share some posts about our fantastic pilgrimage and try and put our thoughts into something coherent and meaningful. 

In the meantime, I also just wanted to make mention of Father's Day and especially to offer thanks to our Lord, who treats us all as a perfect Father would. Of course, we can't limit God to our human understanding of fatherhood (or parenthood, if you prefer), but there are many striking characteristics of God that speak to our hearts today. 

In a world that lacks many 'father-figures', perhaps we should remind ourselves of the true gift that God is to every person. 

Paul wrote to the Galatians reminding them of this:

"And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, so now we can rightly speak of God as our dear Father" - Galatians 4:6

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Camino tales

People of all ages love to listen to stories (well most of us anyway). As children we are encouraged to use our imagination and to place ourselves into the stories we read or listen to. As I mentioned yesterday, I am super excited to enter into the story of the Camino de Santiago and to listen to the stories of thousands of pilgrims who have walked the path before us. 

Of course, literature is full of classic stories of Pilgrimage, and one doesn't have to physically walk the miles in order to experience something of the journey. Two of the more popular books in this regard, Canterbury Tales (by Geoffrey Chaucer) and Pilgrim's Progress (John Bunyan) tell of people making a journey of spiritual discovery. And of course, the Scriptures are also filled with accounts of the Israelites walking to the Promised Land, recounting stories of life, faith, trial and joy - all as the travel along the ancient paths to their end goal. 

If you didn't know this already, The Canterbury Tales, were crafted by Chaucer as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims travelling towards Canterbury. They were on a journey to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket, which was housed in the famous Cathedral. Apparently, the prize for the best tale was a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.

To be honest, I am not really interested in any particular prize (not that there is really a prize), except for the joy of completing the walk, encountering fellow pilgrims along the way, enjoying God's presence and discovering more about myself. 

I will let you know if I get the prize in the end.

"We are invited to make a pilgrimage – into the heart and life of God." - Dallas Willard

I want to enter the story of the Camino, so that I can reconnect with my part in the Greater Story. 

Living in Grace

D3LM3

The Camino de Santiago

The idea of walking the Camino has been in my mind for a while now and I am so excited to have the opportunity to fulfil this dream. This week is the week that we get to tick 'The Camino' off our bucket list.

In truth, I can't tell you exactly when I first heard about the Camino de Santiago, but the very idea of going on this pilgrimage has remained in my heart for ages. Every person I have spoken to, who has walked a part of the Way, has beamed when relating their own experiences and I hope to be one of those people in the future.

For those of you who may not know too much about El Camino, it is quite simply a pilgrimage (usually walking) that ends up in the city of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. This is the place where the remains of James (Jesus' disciple, the son of Zebedee) are supposedly buried.  When translated, the name Santiago de Compostela means 'Saint James, in the field of stars.'

Sounds simple hey? Well, not exactly ....

In order to officially complete the pilgrimage, you need to walk a minimum of 100km's on any of the official routes and end up in Santiago. We will be walking on the Camino Primitivo route, which is the original pilgrim route in Northern part of Spain, and we should be covering a distance of close on 250km's. 

For us, the idea is to walk, to pray, to contemplate, to listen and to connect with God again. I know that one doesn't have to travel half-way around the world to do these things, but there is something special about doing it in the footsteps of millions of others. 

I will try and write a little more in the next few days, before we leave, but I would appreciate your prayers as we head out into this great adventure. It is my prayer that we would have our own Emmaus Road encounter (Luke 24) - and meet Christ as we walk and reflect. 

In 1604, Sir Walter Raleigh wrote: 

"Give me my scallop of quiet,
my staff of faith to walk upon,
my scrip of joy, immortal diet,
my bottle of salvation,
my gown of glory, hope's true gage,
and thus I'll take my pilgrimage."

Living in Grace

D3LM3