A Place to Lay Your Head
My destination on the first day of walking the Camino was Zubiri, a small village where, two years before, the albergue (pilgrim resting place with bunk beds) had been full and for a brief time I didn’t know where I would be spending the night. I had learned on that pilgrimage that, no matter what happens, there will be a bed somewhere; that I can trust in God and (try) not to worry about it.
This time, I knew that many more albergues were open in that town. They were listed in the guidebook with the number of beds in each, and I had added them all up. So I knew there were more than 100. Nonetheless, I was worried. I found—without consciously deciding to do so—that I was counting the number of pilgrims who passed me. When that number itself passed 100, I started worrying again. Would there be a place for me?
My worries proved needless. The municipal albergue had many open beds when I got there. I got to wash a few clothes, take a shower, write in my journal, and have a big dinner. Life was simple and good. Did I remember to thank God? Actually, yes. But what I realized is that saying a prayer of trust in God is a different thing from acting with your body in a manner that trusts in God. It is one thing to say to yourself, “There will be a bed, and if not, there will be many alternatives. God will be with me. It will be okay, however it turns out.” It is one thing to say those words, another to live them.
My head was trusting God while my gut was anxiously counting how many people were going to get there before me.
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But what if, dear reader, it did not work out? What would you do if you got to the end of your day and there was no place to lay your head? Would you remember Jesus describing himself that way, when he said the Son of Man had no place to lay his head?
If ever we don’t have a place to lay our head, we will not be alone. This is a very important thing to learn. And it’s something we learn by practice, by active trust in God. And it is, I think, the most wonderful thing to learn in the whole world. No matter what, I will not be alone.
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Out & About: This Sunday, June 16, I am to preach at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, Dallas; the eucharists are at 9 and 11:15 a.m.
The following Sunday, June 23, I am preaching at Good Shepherd Church in Cedar Hill, Texas; the eucharists there are at 8:30 and 10 a.m.
Saturday, June 29, I am speaking in New York City on fiction; my talk is called “Reality is Pro-Life.” This is at 11 a.m. at St. Vincent Ferrer Church in “Breaking Through,” an event sponsored by the Human Life Foundation; info here: https://humanlifereview.com/breaking-through-the-culture-of-life-in-arts-and-entertainment-june-29-2024-in-new-york-city/
The next Good Books & Good Talk seminar will be on Sunday, September 22, on Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.
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On the Web: My friend, the wonderfully triply-named Matthew Lee Anderson, directed my attention to the following. There’s a bookstore in Colorado that pays people to read in their store. (I’m ready to move!) Here’s the story: https://coloradosun.com/2024/02/28/perelandra-bookshop-reader-in-residence/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email