Camino de Santiago – lIFe or LifE

Me: I get jealous. Silence: you don’t trust love.

Speaking of patience, it appears I did not read my travel plans correctly. I skipped one stop by mistake and one stop by design. The good news is I get to spend two days in Santiago de Compostela.

First some calming photos.

LifE or lIFe – where is your emphasis?

lIFe is a life spent in the middle and always calculating the odds, outcomes, circumstances or consequences.

lIFe is the life of “IF” what if? If only! If I had this. If I didn’t have that. It’s an urge to control beyond what is rationally yours to control. Or the if of alliance, advantage or acquiring.

Jesus wants us to be rational. Reason and faith should not be in competition. Rather Jesus asked over and over again:

What’s your opinion?

Either he asked for your reasoned reply to a parable or to an event that just occurred. Repeatedly, Jesus asks your opinion.

Life lived as LifE is a different approach. The two end points are the primacy of thought. L is for Love. E is for eternity.

A life lived as LifE, has if still but the if is the minor to the major. The major life reality is Love. Divine love and healthy human love. The E is for eternal. What separates love from every other characteristic is that for love to be it’s fullest it must be eternal.

For Catholics. This year is the Year of the Eucharist in Revival. So if you wish to make ‘E’ for the Eucharist I would agree. There is both temporal and eternal phases to Love and in the Eucharist.

Look at these photos and consider the actions taken long ago for us out of love. These are temporal, but the love that dreamed of you is eternal

And finally, this cross. Found in many small villages, it has three people on the cross. Jesus, Mary and the patron saint. Love-Eternal living.

Live an L-E life. Everything else is IFy.

Peace be with you,

Deacon Gerry