Travelogue silent walk Ravenstein-Wijchen
Due to corona, September 26 was the last silent walk in the series ‘The Walk of Wisdom in a year around’. This group walk was some time ago, but is still fresh in my memory, Rob van Sprang. It was A wonderful day , as far as I’m concerned: the highlight of the year 2020.
Well, why did it take so long to write about it?
I think this is because I didn’t really understand what was really happening that day, what I was perceiving. In the space of which Nathalie Roovers, who guided the walk, would say: “which you feel when you free yourself from the constraint of your personality”. That is the space in which you create, create, bring about something from your soul that is innovative and liberating, also for others.
A short report of the day:
For me, this day, these 24 hours, started a day earlier on September 25 in the monastery in Grave where I did a test run as host and by 6 p.m. it turned out that there was no lay brother present to do the meditation. This, while I had just invited the pilgrims I had led to the room. This was part of the monastic tradition, I had literally told them. I then decided to introduce the meditation itself by giving a coherent story about the Way, the Encounter and Life in a triptych. After all, we were at the Emmaus Monastery named after the hikers who met Jesus along the way, but who only really got to know him when they shared the bread together.
It was 6 p.m., and dinner was almost ready when I opened the little book that was in the pulpit. I read a text by Georgia Nighways, entitled: “I know something good about you…”. This was followed by two more texts that together express exactly what I wanted to say to the pilgrims: “Go pilgrim, go… Distribute the good along the way as if it has no end, break bread, walk and live freely in abundance.”
After dinner I cheerfully went to Ravenstein where I spent the night in Nathalie’s Garden House. I had forgotten my toothbrush, but my good spirits were improving my spirits. After a friendly greeting (and some explanation about the cottage) we parted ways. It was already late and we wanted to be fit for the seventh silent walk from Ravenstein to Wijchen, 11 kilometers short.
After a delicious cup of coffee and a short real acquaintance, I left the house to pick up the pilgrims at the station. Once we arrived (on foot and by car), 12 participants gathered in the coaching practice “De Veroovering“, just past the chickens and sheep and the Garden House where I had slept. Nathalie introduced herself and told how much she values pronouncing someone’s name correctly, hers in particular :). That’s what you were supposed to do with a French i. After that, everyone introduced themselves and it turned out that this sensitivity for pronouncing your name was more widely shared than I initially thought. You start thinking about it and then… (apparently I thought Robje sounded very unpleasant).
After this introduction, we left her domain and Nathalie guided us to a special church around the corner that is lovingly maintained by the 70 inhabitants of her village and where she likes to come. Carefully we take a seat at 1.5 meters in anticipation of the ‘Latifa prayer’.
The Latifa is an ancient mystical exercise from Sufism with the mystic and poet Rumi (13th century) as its founder. It is a learning path based on a thousands of years old meditation of the same name that means: subtle, refined.
During prayer, 7 human qualities are ‘touched’, as it were: ‘awakened’. Each latif, property, has its own place on the body (and the organs that are there) where you unlock a quality within yourself and listen to how it manifests itself in you. This experience is enhanced by placing your right hand on this spot with your left hand during prayer.
An experience that you, like me, need a while to understand, to become aware, to remember what your life is all about. By accepting, desiring, hoping, trusting, surrendering to love and finally to your will. I still can’t really name what happened in the church, but what I do know is that the space belonged to me again: that I had become part of “the confusion” that Nathalie was talking about.
With tears on my cheeks (but walking in front, so that no one saw me) I led the way to continue the walk in silence. Until finally (after having discarded what was holding me at the wishing fireball, see photo) I turned around and participated in the meeting I had talked about about about 20 hours ago in the monastery.
Earlier, we physically broke bread at Hotel Restaurant De Hoogeerd and I heard the waiter talk about the good in people and that we often don’t see that….. Whereupon I decided to take my text from the Emmaus Monastery and read the first text with dedication and love: “I know something good about you…”:
Wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone I meet would say: I know something good about you and then spontaneously do something good….
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every handshake would say wholeheartedly and sincerely: I know something good about you?
Wouldn’t life be more beautiful if one always praised what is good? For truly in all evil, there is so much good in me and you.
Wouldn’t it be a nice attitude if everyone thought like this: you know a little good about me and I, I know something good about you!
What a wonderful day! Thanks.
Seal
