"I have not written about my many, many companions on the Way, but today, the day before I arrive in Santiago, I wanted you to meet Victor.
Victor and his wife walked the Camino in 2013, just after she started her treatment for Ovarian Cancer.
Six months ago, Victor’s wife Elsa, lost her fight… and Victor lost Elsa.
Tomorrow he will arrive at the Cathedral in Santiago after walking for and with Elsa, surrounded by his memories of her.
Over the hour or so that we walked Victor talked and talked about his many weeks on the Camino and all the people he had been able to share with about his devout God-loving wife and how SHE had blessed so very many people (he was always careful to clarify that it was SHE who was blessing people and he was just the vessel.)
When it came time for us to part, I looked at Victor and I blessed his trip and then right before I turned to walk away, I said, “Victor, you blessed all those people also. You. God is using you, as well as Elsa, to bless people.”
At these words, this strong, former law enforcement officer started to get very emotional, his eyes welling with tears.
My friend Connor has taught me to not be afraid to lean into people when they get emotional, so, before I knew what I was doing, I looked Victor square in the eyes and said, “There is an old poem that goes like this:
Christ has no body now but yours
No hands, no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes through which HE looks compassion on the world
Yours are the feet on which he walks to do good
Yours are the hands with which HE blesses all the world."
- Tony Kriz. http://tonykriz.com/yours-are-the-hands-for-victor/.
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