Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places! Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, who walked from town to town until he finally reached Jerusalem. Buen Camino! This is the greeting you will hear and quickly learn to say on the Camino.  It literally means ‘good road or path’ but it transcends such a simple definition to mean a wish of wellbeing among pilgrims (peregrinos) and an offer of a helping hand along the journey.

Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places— Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ! The Camino de Santiago.  The Way of St. James. Like Iona, I am not sure when I first heard about this pilgrimage.  Perhaps it has been roaming around within me for years without any acknowledgment and suddenly it appeared and said it was time to go wander a bit, stretch your legs and your stamina.  And your heart. So here we are.  When you read this, Jenny and I, and daughters Gwen and Claire, will be arriving in Madrid ...

Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places— Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ! Jet lag, church lag, and Pentecost. Before I go there, I want you to know that Jenny and I are home for a few days to regroup before we head off to Spain and the Camino, then on to Germany as the final stop on our vacation and study leave time. I am spending these days preparing for the last of my four classes in my Trauma and Spiritual Care course and will be up in the middle of the night attending class on zoom while we are in Germany. Two all-nighters, in fact. Thank you, time zones! ...

Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places: Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ! We are in one of those far-off places. Margaret River, a four-hour drive south of Perth, then five hours by plane from Melbourne, seventeen hours from Dallas, and another couple hours from Albuquerque, then the hour drive home to Santa Fe.  Yes, it’s a far-off place and as “far off” as I have ever been.