Longer

CAMINO STAGE 6- Gernika to Bilbao Camino del Norte Route – 20 miles Camino De Santiago

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“The longer you continue the journey, the more exciting it becomes, because of the chance you have to learn about who you really are and what you can do.” Art Berg

Time has started to lose meaning the longer we walk the Camino. Some minutes, while pain is severe, stretch an eternity but other times an hour or two unfolds in the hypnotic breathing of nature.

We turned inland today leaving the coastal mountains of the Guernica behind as we headed for Bilbao. Steve’s grandfather was born in Bilbao and the excitement carried us forward. It’s easier to understand yourself when you know who and where you come from.

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When we reached Bilbao we dumped our packs and went in search of the church where Steve’s grandfather was christened, and a street and vague address a half a mile away where he was born. In an ancient city we figured we may have luck finding the apartment building his grandfather grew up in.

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We found the church where Steve’s grandfather Victor was christened, San Vicente Mártir, easily enough. Sadly it was closed by the time we got there. We moved on to the street where his grandfather was born, which was two city blocks long. In the 1890’s the apartment buildings had letters over the threshold. Now there were just numbers, so while we couldn’t find the exact apartment, it was fun to think his grandfather had played in the street here as a child. When his grandfather was a young adult, he emigrated to Chile. At the time in Bilbao, the communists were controlling and killing people and South America had more freedoms and opportunities. It was fascinating to return to see his grandfather’s origins and appreciate his grandfather’s courage to find a better life.

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“When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves.” Viktor Frankl

Thinking about courage, I was mindful of Steve’s courage through cancer and chemo and how he, like his grandfather, had the courage to move to another country, to take the longer but better route in moving to Spain, land of his ancestry for a healthier pace and quality of life.

“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.” Alan Cohen

We continue our movement of life, one step in front of the other, on the Camino.