Camino Gratitude Primitivo

Every morning, as I walk Encinita streets to Church, I am greeted by a familiar congregation: hundreds of pigeons lined up in silent ceremony. They wait in the fading darkness, motionless, quiet, poised to welcome the first rays of the sun.

There is a profound stillness in their vigil. They stand at attention as the greatness of life begins anew, a gift freely given by a loving Creator and accepted daily by these attentive creatures.

The Language of Silence

Our souls begin to stir in the morning silence of sunrise, filling with light, love, truth, and meaning as we experience creation’s beauty. Just as God spoke into the void billions of years ago creating life, we find that same solitude as holy; a pathway to communion, joy, and acceptance. On the Camino, silence is the soil in which faith grows deeply and abundantly.

A 7th-Century Morning Hymn – this ancient prayer echoes the gratitude of pilgrims who have watched the same light break over the Spanish plains –

“Now dawn unfolds across the sky and day drifts down upon the earth; a piercing ray rebounds in light: illusion of the night, be gone. You are brighter than the sun, the light itself, and perfect day, who brings to light with piercing beam the inmost regions of our hearts. As daylight fills the sky once more, let us with thanks and joyful voice sing glory to the Lord our God. Then let this Light bring cloudless day and make us pure before his gaze; let nothing sly be on our tongue and nothing dark be in our thought.”

As we walk the dusty paths to Santiago, every sunrise is an invitation; a worthy prayer of gratitude for the light that subdues the “darkness in our thought” and turns our bodies into the Spirit’s holy dwelling place.

Happy day!