The plan had been: a nearly two week return trip to Iceland and the Faroe Islands. In January, sitting at the Coffee Apothecary in Taos, my best friend and I had booked rooms and imagined our itinerary.
Today, when our plan had been to be hiking in west Iceland, my friend and I are sitting once again in the Coffee Apothecary drinking our morning coffee on our way to the Taos Farmer’s Market.
In May, on her way home from a church meeting, my friend’s car was slammed into by a drunk driver. Her car was totaled, and a week later she was unable to walk.
We held on to the trip back to the Faroes as a harbinger of hope. She slowly progressed through the labyrinth of the medical system, and with great courage and persistence, began to move beyond her couch home. A wheelchair. A walker. Then her hiking stick used as a cane.
At the end of July, it became clear that a long trip was not feasible at this time. She and I decided to try an easier trip to a familiar place, back to Taos.
A slow trip. For healing.
On the Wednesday before I left, during the Eucharist at the Diocesan Center, we offered the Sacrament of Healing, I was anointed and prayed for. Not as seriously injured as my best friend, I knew the trip would be a healing trip for both us.
In one of the most beautiful places in the world.
……..Every day I walk out into the world
to be dazzled, then to be reflective.
It suffices, it is all comfort –
along with human love…..
( from Long Afternoon at the Edge of Little Sister Pond by Mary Oliver)
House of Grace 