Thinking about prayer

    I was going to call this a post script, but on second thought, I think I will continue writing for a while.  I'd like to share some of the things that were going around in my mind, but couldn't find a computer and by the time I did I was on to something else.  Also, I have pictures I'd like to share, but I'm still having some technical troubles in that area so that is yet to come.  So... if you like, you can continue to check this blog.  If you are having emails sent automatically and no longer want to follow the blog, well... good luck with that.  I have no idea how to get you off.  But I promise I will check on that at some point.  I'm still learning my way around this thing and at least I don't have to insert euros or hold up others waiting for the internet anymore.
    I've been thinking about prayer since I saw my friends John, Pat and Russell (from Australia) in Santiago.  Back on Sept 23 I had dinner with them.  We had been meeting off and on since we entered the region of Castilla y Leon early in the Camino.  John and Pat are married and their friend Russell had heard of the Camino years ago and felt drawn to it.  Russell had a lot of problems with blisters, but she was doing well since Leon.  Pat, though, had a knee that was causing her a lot of trouble.
   The morning after our dinner I walked four miles to Villafranca, then stopped for some breakfast.  There I ran into my three Aussie friends again.  At this point we could take the more scenic but difficult route over the mountain, or walk closer to the road on an easier route.  All four of us had decided to go over the mountain - the one I wrote about a while back that nearly did me in.  As I told them good-bye and headed out, Pat asked me to pray for her as she wasn't sure how her knee would do. 
   So I did, in fact as I realized what a long sharp incline I was on I prayed even harder for Pat.  I was throwing in some prayers for myself also.  On the descent I started to pray more fervently for both of us, but as I prayed I just couldn't imagine how this could go well for Pat.  I knew my own knees were feeling the stress of the constant downward movement-- how was Pat's bad knee going to manage?  What could God possibly do for her?
   It's interesting, I had no problem praying for Pat... for myself, for Russell and John also.  But I also have a feeling that God really has more to do than look out for a few people on one mountain on a particular day.  I pray though I just don't always know how all this works; why should God be involved in the small details of my everyday life?
    I heard from mutual friends that they saw John, Pat and Russell at O'Cebreiro the next day, so I knew they had made it that day, but I was very curious about how it had gone.  Finally, a couple of days after I had arrived in Santiago I saw them in the plaza outside the cathedral.  We had a joyful reunion, then I told Pat that I had been praying for her that day in September.  She said, "You did?  You really did?  Guess what happened?"  Then she told me about how John as their navigator led them onto what he thought was the turn for the mountain.  But he had made an error and too late they realized they were on the eaiser road route.  Pat gave me a big grin and said she did fine on that day and was ready the next day to go up O'Cebreiro.
   So did God listen to me and then micro-manage John so he missed the turn?  I doubt it.  (And besides, why didn't God make that descent easier for me if God really was listening to my prayer!)   But maybe God doesn't have to hear our particular requests - just the act of praying is important because we're connecting with our Creator and also with one another.  And maybe that opens the door for good things to happen:  people with weak knees take the wrong route, and other people tackle difficult mountains -obstacles they had thought impossible.
      My Pilgrim's Credential includes some short suggestions under the heading "Spirit of the Camino."  One says, "Sense the prayers of those who have gone before you, leave good will behind for those who will come after you, appreciate your companions who walk with you."  Another notes, "Give thanks at the end of each day."  The Camino had a spirit about it in which I truly felt the prayers of all those who had gone before in addition to those carrying me in prayer as I walked.   Early in this blog I mentioned a Korean woman that I met, Maria, and asked for prayers for her.  I never did see her again.  But I have a sense that the spirit of the Camino and all the prayers before have helped her in her own pilgrimage.  May our conversations with God continue and deepen as well as our concerns for one another.  Bueno Camino!