About Levanté 3
Levanté 3 is the third retreat in a series of Michael Fish’s fascinating new streamed online video retreats, designed to help us recognize the opportunities for personal growth that are often hidden within everyday experiences – a springboard inviting fresh perspectives on life’s challenges and rewards.
Born of Michael’s experiences during his arduous and eventful fourth Camino across Spain, Levanté 3 is a series of pre-recorded, streamed videos that focus on how simple everyday events hold valuable lessons for living life in the “now.” We will learn how viewing each day as a separate, distinct experience can reveal simple, easily overlooked opportunities for us to live more fully in the present and in the presence of the Divine.
In Levanté 3, Fr. Michael takes us along during the next five days of his remarkable trek across Spain on the Camino Levanté. This route of the Camino de Santiago is by far the road less traveled. Amazing and unpredictable, the Levanté journey provided a wealth of wonderful opportunities to see what God can teach us about each and every life experience. Michael uses his remarkable gift of storytelling and metaphor to show us how these experiences can hold the key to opening our hearts to a wider view of our relationship with ourselves, our families and the world around us.
Day 11 • Minaya to San Clemente
Confronting our Shadow
Michael leads off Levanté 3 with an arduous trek on stony paths that demanded he carefully watch every step, while becoming aware of his shadow. This focus not only carried him to the day’s destination, but to an inner tranquility. In this talk, Michael ponders how we can confront our shadow, those aspects of ourselves we tend to ignore and neglect, the unresolved aspects of ourselves and our lives, through engaging in an inner dialogue.
Day 12 • San Clemente to Las Pedroneras
The Prayer of Place
Refreshed by a rest day, Michael was freed from the obligations and stresses of preparing for what a day’s walk on the Camino demands. The old convent Michael stayed in beckoned him to remain longer. The day off and the convent itself opened a place in him, his own “inner convent,” to just be. Michael shares that a place can not only invite us to prayer and reflection, it can also be our prayer, the “prayer of place,” leading us into its own quiet and stillness.
Day • 13 Las Pedroneras to Mota del Cuervo
Dreaming the Impossible
The day felt like a Celtic blessing to Michael – the sun behind and the wind at his back, cool and refreshing. Along the way, a chance meeting with a man in a vineyard led to them sharing experiences of the Camino. Having entered Don Quixote country, Michael climbed a hill to take in the windmills. Almost expecting to see Don Quixote and his sidekick, Sancho Panza, he was reminded of how important it is for us to dream, even of the impossible.
Day 14 • Mota del Cuervo to Quintanar de la Orden
‘Inner’ Weather
A noticeable drop in temperature, and hillier terrain, accompanied by a strong wind, made for a challenging day for Michael. Persistently knocked off balance, the gusts buffeted him both physically and emotionally. Forced to concentrate in the conditions, Michael reflected how critical it is to pay attention to the essentials, what is truly important. As impactful as the elements that outwardly affect us are, he reminds us that our ‘inner’ weather cannot be ignored.
Day 15 • Quintanar de la Orden to Villacanas
Looking for the Beyond
Michael set out on the day’s walk along a busy highway. But the Camino rewarded his tenacity, presenting quiet villages, a picturesque landscape and the kindness of grape workers laboring in the fields. Their sharing of grapes with him caused Michael to muse what a gift these people have, the capacity to see with their hearts, what we often miss or have forgotten. There is an open invitation for us to look for the “beyond,” the greater in our everyday lives.