What a joyful ritual it is to spend an hour with you every morning. This has been going on for almost four years now. May 2014 is when we got our start. There would be a big hole in my life if I didn’t have this. And we are going to keep it going in grand style!
So, Padre Tomas in California is putting together travel arrangements for us as we approach the big flight to France out of LAX. What a guy. This includes dinner with Annie and a group of Paulist Fathers the evening before. Believe me when I say that I am well taken care of. As I understand it the Paulists are a fairly new order who concentrate on North America. They are involved with modern methods of communication to spread the Word. So when Annie, Padre and I meet special things happen, miracles sometimes. We were brought together from far corners to do this at this time.
We never can really comprehend how God uses little old us in His Big Plan. We sort of see it after the fact. We say, “oh yea” when we finally get it. So in the meantime we boost our faith and keep walking, right? All things for good.
Our daughter sent me a book a few weeks ago entitled The Places In Between about a brave fellow that walks across Afghanistan. Here is a particularly good paragraph:
”I thought about evolutionary historians who argued that walking was a central part of what it meant to be human. Our two-legged motion was what first differentiated us from the apes. It freed our hands for tools and carried us on the long marches out of Africa. As a species, we colonized the world on foot. Most of human history was created through contacts conducted at walking pace, even when some rode horses. I thought of pilgrimages to Compostela in Spain; to Mecca; to the source of the Ganges; and of wandering dervishes, sadhus, and friars who approached God on foot. The Buddha meditated by walking and Wordsworth composed sonnets while striding beside the lakes.” Rory Stewart
Thanks for being here. Off to work. All in love, Felipe.
Yes, just one foot in front of the other. Simple. Elegant. purposeful or purposeless – no matter. Keep walking my friend. Ann and I are leaving Tuesday morning to once again be able to walk into a small bar in a small town, ask for Cafe con Leche, sit down and Be with others. I can’t wait to be with those friends I’ve never met before.
Rewarding travel wishes for you and your group!
Ron ~ cafe con leche, really? You going to send us reports? Felipe.
Hola Felipe,
I have been reading the blog late at night these days. Have my “Brazilian adoptive parents” visiting and doing the most to spend every minute with them; we went for walks, cafes, dinner, tango music&dancing yesterday night, and tonight one more show of the Spanish singer, “Diego, El Cigala” – Love is good- (adapting from Life is good! 🙂 )
Back to the blog, yes, I have been reading it despite not commenting… cheap comments are not appropriate these days with all that is going on “Here”. It is sooooo good to see you on the mend, and feeling better and I was also reflecting on all this mixed with the words “blessed” and “miracles”, maybe because they are also related to the book of Jacques Philippe I just finished.
Sometimes we take for granted the good things that happened, and maybe we think they are because we “worked hard”, “we fought a good battle”, etc. but another look is that we were “blessed”, we “were granted” those things, and not exactly because we worked hard or we fought a good battle -we know there are plenty occasions where we do the same and things didn’t work out as we expected-. And there resides the “miracle” too… and it is in the result of having gone through what we found difficult, we are able to “find the blessing”, “undergo the discomfort”, and then “find the pear ” awaiting at the other side of the process.
Some of the latest posts resonated with me as pieces of this “way”… discomforts, things we deeply want them to happen, blessings, good outcomes, more blessings, “aha” moments, new discomforts, more more blessings, and we go on… (walking!)
Blessings and Love,
Cris
Addendum:
Not sure what happened by the latest part is shown weird… 🙁
I meant to say:
And there resides the “miracle” too… and it is in the result of having gone through what we found difficult, we are able to “find the blessing”, “undergo the discomfort”, and then “find the pearl <a.k.a. Aha moments” awaiting at the other side of the process.
Cris ~ Yes, sometimes I think some of us are darn lucky which is a kind of a miracle too. felipe.x
Always a pleasure Cris. So glad you were having a good time with your folks. Making memories is important business, good work. What is the title of the book by Philippe? Finding the Pear? There has been some great stuff coming into the blog lately, hasn’t there? That is what you are saying. So happy to be a part of all this. Thanks for pointing out what you see. Most of the time I get lost in the mix of it all. I will try my best to call you Thursday at 1600 my time. Miss you. Felipe.x
Hi Phil,
The book is “Interior Freedom”, a nice point of view of our messiness, or our human condition!!!
Talking on Thursday would be great! I miss you too! <3
Sunday Morning love,
Cris
Thanks Cris.