‘Stepping up to the challenge’
Greetings,
Today is the first day of the new Step Count Challenge, in which teams of people all across Scotland (including a number from the University) are counting their steps as an aid to better health in body and mind, and with a mild competitive interest for some. The Chaplaincy has a team again called St Andrews Peregrinos. There are five of us – Jane Barron, honorary Church of Scotland Chaplain; Barbara Davey, honorary Quaker Chaplain; Kitty Macintyre, honorary Pagan Chaplain; Alan McGougan, honorary United Reformed Church Chaplain; and me. Peregrinos is Spanish for pilgrims – we may not be heading for Santiago de Compostela, but we may well be undertaking journeys both physical and spiritual as we walk (or run, cycle and swim).
I took my first walk of the challenge this morning (8100 steps, up the Grange Road, along to Balmungo, Brownhills, and down the coastal path to the East Sands). Along the way, I passed this potential obstacle:
It reminded me of a verse of perhaps the finest hymn about pilgrimage:
Whoso beset him round
With dismal stories,
Do but themselves confound;
His strength the more is.
No lion can him fright,
He’ll with a giant fight,
But he will have a right
To be a pilgrim.
(John Bunyan)
I hope that the St Andrews Peregrinos don’t have to fight with giants over the next two months, but perhaps our very walking will counteract any dismal stories we encounter. ¡Buen Camino!
Yours,
Donald.
Revd Dr Donald MacEwan
Chaplain