St. Cuthbert | Part 4 – Day #2

The image above is a pretty good interpretation of how my body felt at the beginning of the day 2. I had many thoughts of being unsure of what I would be able to do this day. After a very hardy breakfast in Kirk Yetholm, we began the trek to Wooler. This was a day of many scenery changes, and many times of water-logged shoes. Let me back up right quick and share with you about breakfast. BACON! There is something about the bacon that is quite amazing. I started every morning with bacon. When I think about the bacon we are fed here in America, that ain’t nothin’ but some stringy meat mess. The bacon we had for breakfast in Scotland and England is a less salty, more meaty version of what we know as country ham. Okay, I’m done talking about the bacon 🙂

So, back to the day at hand. We began to make our way to Wooler. Wooler was was a neat little place, and it is unfortunate that we did not have too much time to venture this town. However, the most inspiring moment of the day was climbing the hill, and seeing another wall (there are so many rock walls – how these people made a wall stand on the steepest side of a mountain is beyond my knowledge capacity). Yet, this wall meant something more: mentally, theoretically, and ethically. You see, in the ‘States’ we are currently having a great debate around “walls.” What if I told you, I walked through – not over, not under – through an open gate from one country to the next along this pilgrimage. The gate that took us from Scotland to England.

I made it over the line, with no security issues. (You can learn more about what the United Methodist Church is doing regarding refugees and asylum seekers here: https://www.umnews.org/en/news/texas-group-crosses-border-to-meet-asylum-seekers) In October, I am blessed with the opportunity to venture with 4 other church members to La Posada Providencia to share in helping refugees and asylum seekers in learning English, helping with day-to-day tasks, and learning more about what is actually happening at the southern border. So, on this day it was quite interesting to cross from one place to the next without any questioning; making it necessary for the word “trust” to be at the forefront of my brain. I’ll share with more about “trust” in my final posting around the entire trip.

I knew toward the end of day two that my knees and my right hip were going to be a real problem. Not only was I popping Ibuprofen and Aleve, but I was lucky enough to find ice at the hotel pub to place upon my knees as I tried to sleep. The end of this day was truly the beginning of one of the worst struggles that I have ever had physically. Just trying to walk from the room to the restaurant for dinner was overwhelming. Knowing that the final day would be another 18 mile trek, I began to stress and worry about being able to make it from Wooler to Holy Island in the time that was allotted – making sure I could cross the causeway when the tide was out. I was not mentally prepared at this time, nor was I physically prepared to make this trek. My initial thought was I needed to get a taxi from Wooler to Finwick; and from Finwick I would be able to complete the walk across the causeway to Holy Island. However, day three would prove to be quite challenging – more than I could ever imagine. And so, this is when you will meet two individuals that were brought into my presence only by God’s grace.