A flicker, A flame

I have decided.  I am no longer thinking about it.

If God wants me to do this, then I will do it.  If he wants me there, I will be there.

I have been blessed to find through the web forum that other people with physical limitations similar to mine have been successful in the past, as have people with far greater challengers.  People have made the camino in wheelchairs.  They make walkers with "off-road" capabilities.  There are "trekking poles" that people without any disability use, but which would certainly be helpful for someone like me and which could replace my cane. 

I also know now that there are services that can "carry ahead" my pack if I find that the load is too injurious to my spine, especially with the considerations of Ankylosing Spondylitis.  It is possible to bring prescriptions and have them refilled if necessary in Spain, and medical care is accessible from the camino.  While the walk is not urban or modern in nature it is still connected and travelled.  I would not be alone.  If I need to rest I will rest.  If I need to go more slowly than others, then I will.  If I need to take a bus or a cab for some portion I can do that.  If I decide not to walk the entire way, and instead choose a beginning point that gives me fewer miles then that is also OK.  This is my walk with God, and no one can judge that but him.

So I will go.  I have looked ahead, and I think that I would like to walk in the spring when it is cool.  I would prefer being chilly and wearing layers over being hot and sweaty.  I also think I would enjoy the spring flowers I hear so much about.  So I think I will time my walk to coincide with Pentecost in 2016.  Wouldn't that be lovely?

Pentecost is my favorite of the holy days. The frantic feeling is gone now that I have made this decision.




* I have decided I will write about this for the benefit of other people with systemic disease or disabilities that they feel impede their ability to walk the camino.  When I introduced myself and asked my original questions on the forum, many wonderful people responded, but it seems there is not much information geared toward "people like us" though this is a very broad stroke I am painting.  Hopefully my preparations, the resources I find, my failings and successes, and eventually my steps along the Way of St. James will help someone else to find the courage to follow the calling of the Holy Spirit.  God bless us on our journeys!