Amber waves of grain

Well they're not amber yet but as I travel west the grape vines are being replaced by fields of wheat. Even though it's only about a couple of feet tall the heads are formed & the fields really do ripple in the breeze like waves.

A few days into this pilgrimage I asked God "what is the reason I'm on this journey?" & the answer was "the original purpose of the Camino," which was penance. For many hundreds of years pilgrims from all over Europe journeyed to Santiago De Compostela for absolution of their sins. In our Lenten study--give up something bad for Lent--the book explored giving up greed, pride, vanity, & jealousy/envy. They might not seem like sins because we are human after all.  But they are. They lead us away from being the kind of people we were created to be. Greed is when 'want' motivates our buying habits instead of 'need'. When our grandson Miles began talking he would say "I need that" instead of "I want that".  He didn't actually NEED another Hot Wheels car, & it made me think of that whole relationship between need & want.  Pride was another stumbling block for the class. Being proud of your child's achievements or national pride isn't what it means.  It's self pride, self engrandeurment. It's thinking we're better than someone else because of our achievements or acts of charity, etc. I truly believe that it is by the grace of God that we are given the opportunities and gifts in life that we develop & use to make  us who we are. So I've been working on one thing every day. As I'm trudging up the hills (2,444 foot ascent yesterday) I use a breath prayer--inhale 'in with the good' and exhale 'out with the....'whatever I'm working on that day. 

I continue to meet the most wonderful people from all over the world. I was just chatting with some ladies from Austrailia. They had a 24 hour flight! Bien Camimo

The round thing way up on the highest point of this church is a stork's nest. I saw  two storks flying & one perched, leaning over feeding its babies. Hard to get a good picture because they build their nests on the highest church sphires.