10/25/2019, 21:30
“Your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow.”
Stopping for a small breakfast about 1-1/2 hours into our 16-mile walk from Astorga to Foncebadón, I noticed a poster on the cafe wall with that quote. And it got me thinking about time: Past, present and future. So I raised the topic with our little band of brother and sisters. As we continued our walk, we [Fr. Tony, Kate (USA), Charlotte (UK) and I], discussed the concept of time and how, on the Camino, time flies yet at the same time seems to almost stand still. We met each other just four weeks ago yesterday; however, we all consider each other to be the best of friends, as close as friends we may have known our entire lives. I’ve had “conversations of substance” (to use a phrase I first heard from Fr. Tony) with at least one of these individuals, or with other members of our extended Camino family, almost every day during these four weeks.
Later today that conversation on time continued between Charlotte and me and evolved to the topic of time and our own mortality. From our discussion, I concluded that on the Camino it is much easier to cherish each and every moment and fully experience, with wonder and awe, the sights, sounds and smells of God’s creation all around us. The challenge will be to “bottle” that “wonder and awe” when we return home and attempt to live the rest of our lives with that same “wonder and awe,” the fear of the Lord. If we can do that, when the time comes for our passing from this world, we will be able to have the confidence that our eternal salvation is at hand.
Jim Olshefski
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