Camino Post #10- Cathedral Poem - Like Coming Home

*I've had this post written and ready to publish for a few months now, pre-diagnosis we will call it, as that moment has changed everything for me.  Ironically, it's about heaven - a FUTURE reality, or so I thought.  These past months have awakened my awareness to the reality that heaven can be much nearer than you think. That perhaps, this thing we call living is full of whispers of that heavenly reality if only we open our eyes wide enough to see them.*

The day after we arrived in Santiago de Compostela we spent a few hours at a small cafe perched on the steps next to the Cathedral.  Espresso in hand and paper before me, we sat and simply watched as the pilgrims arrived.  As I reflected on some of my own feelings from the previous day, a strong symbolism began to emerge in my thoughts and before my eyes.  

This beautiful massive Cathedral before me was breathtaking, a reflection of God's glory.  The pilgrims arriving were tired from the long journey but the relief and joy on their faces whispered a "I made it.  I'm home."  

Cathedral Poem/Like Coming Home

I've been walking for days- steady pace, a motion of rhythm- as the sun works its way across the sky.  Wisps of white keeping up against a brilliant blue.

Moving as I am, across time and space. 

The landscape ever changing, radiant splashes of color, the swaying green grass, grapevines heavy with fruit, shades of ancient cobblestone winding up and down.

A bubbling brook as clear as glass hums a familiar tune through the forested way.  It's destination also ahead.

I do not walk alone, although at times and in seasons my journey holds that feeling.  

There are many others dotting this path, young to old, a mixture of tribes and tongues.  Uniquely different stories all headed forward toward the end.  

The mile markers wearing grey with age pass by, counting down.  I am closer yet- closer still- a journey onward.  

Around the bend my eyes catch a glimmer high above the trees, in the distance it shines and instantly I know the end is near, my feet worn, body tired from the journey now behind.

Onward, press onward, towards the sound of the bell- a calling out that end is near.  A calling that resonates deeply pitched in my soul.  

A homecoming,

An image of heaven.

A sight so grand that I fall to my knees as I arrive, standing in the shadow of heaven.

Relief, joy, pride. 

As others come in I see the same, an arrival of the soul.

A recognition and reunion of friends made along the way as all is made right under the shadow of the grand Cathedral.  

The journey now behind as my Savior stands before me- hand outstretched.  I am made whole.