01. Jul 2025

Carnikava - Riga

Photo 1: Today I saw the first pilgrims also traveling the Way of St. James. These two girls were from Latvia and finishing their Camino in Riga. They had been walking five days along the coast from Estonia to Riga. I still have 84 more days to go...

Photo 2: "Sandman"... Today there was a gentle wind on the coast. The sky was blue, the sun was warm, the sand was good to walk on... and now I leave the stretch directly on the shoreline of the Baltic Sea. The rest of the way to Germany is inland.

Photo 3: My last snapshot of the Baltic Sea...

Photo 4: I did not get his name, but this man is riding a bike all the way from Sicily and around the entire Baltic Sea. We waved at each other as he road past me. Then he stopped, turn around and came back. He saw my St. James logo on my hat and wanted to get a picture with me. He asked if I would be going all the way to Santiago de Compostela. I told him that I was just walking back to my home in Germany, but that I had walked to Santiago de Compostela from my home two years earlier. I said that I was a pastor and a pilgrim and asked whether he would like for me to say a prayer of blessing for his bike journey. He did not understand English so well, but he undrtstood when I said, "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." He crossed himself and was all smiles.

Photo 5: The St. James shell before the St. James Cathedral in Riga.

At the little shop in the entry I could get the pilgrim seal stamped in my pilgrim passport. While I was attemping to communicate to the woman at the counter what I wanted, a priest came out of a back room and scolded me: "Take your hat off. This is not a synagoge!" I always take my hat off when I go into the sanctuary. It would have been great had he said something like: "Oh, you are a pilgrim! Welcome! How far have you traveled? Please remember to take your hat off when you go into the sanctuary."

I was thinking of Jesus and the first diciples all being Jewish and praying with their heads covered as was their tradition. Jesus did not go to the cross to change what we put on or do not put on our head when we pray. He went to the cross to change the condition of our heart so that we can come before God as his children and speak with confidence to God as to a Father. Unfortunately through the centuries too often the church has foccussed more on ritual and outward adherence, than embracing grace, truth, and spiritual renewal.

I then went to the front of the church and sang my pilgrim song, prayed for Latvia and the people who live here. I think I almost saw a smile from the lady at the counter as I left the church...

At the hostel where I stayed in Riga, I met another pilgrim, Gilbert from France. He is 75 years old and plans to walk through the Baltics and Poland. I may be seeing him from time to time the next few weeks.

At the hostel reception there was a very friendly lady from Sri Lanka. She was working beyond the normal office hours. That allowed for a short talk and a pilgrim blessing. She was so happy to receive the blessing... a good way to end a long day.