To Walk Far, Carry Less is the title of a book dealing with the issue of ultralight backpacking - specifically for those considering walking the 500 mile El Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain. In this book the author provides insight to her experience planning and walking the Camino. She shares how she selected the lightest weight items to put into her backpack and other weight saving tips. The most drastic tip - suggesting cutting off size tags and manufacturer labels - once you made the decision to keep the item - and carry in the pack. In her original book - published in November 2011 - she calculated that with all the tags removed she was able to trim almost one pound of weight. That translates into a lot of items with tags. Since that time many manufacturers have stopped sewing tags onto their clothing - using a new imprint method to eliminate tags. Still - as my wife and I continue our training and selecting items for our backpack - we have noticed that only four or five items actually have tags - cutting them off would save us a very small amount of weight - but we did it anyhow. Where weight on the Camino is important - we eliminate any unnecessary weight where we can.
In our personal lives and on our spiritual journeys - we need to follow the same mantra - To walk far - carry less. Too many of us are carrying burdens that we should have given up ages ago. Old arguments - family squabbles - issues with work - things we have been unable to change - worries about our health - things we wished we had never done - sins committed - sins never confessed - to ourselves - to God. All these things - are like "dust bunnies" - that we accumulate when we crawl under the bed and through dusty closets - we emerge covered with the "lint of life". Unfortunately - too many - allow these issues to cling to their spirit - to weigh them down - to make life look worse than it is. In confession - we are allowed to take this excess baggage and hand it over to Jesus - to give to Him - all our concerns - all our worries - all our sins - that we may be freed from this "lint of life" - to walk lighter - to walk refreshed - to walk anew in the Spirit. Trust Jesus - He is there - waiting for you to unburden your life - to leave your baggage at the foot of His Cross - where He alone will deal with it.
Deacon Dale
Deacon Dale
