Today’s blog, late edition
Lynn Murphy Mark
Such beauty
About four hours ago I left the Land of Enchantment and entered the Texass portion of Highway 40. It seems like only yesterday when I was headed to Santa Fe, and crossed the border loudly calling out my happy happy joy joy at being in New Mexico. Anyway I am now in Oklahoma City settling in to go to dinner and then watch a Cardinals ball game that miraculously appeared in the Guide section of the television.
Ordinarily, I would not have headed home until Friday. There is a saying that goes like this: “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans…” My friend Sheila, with whom I stay and who is my monastery buddy, has spent a lot of the last 8 days on the phone with her family members. Her sister, living in Mississippi, is battling cancer that has recurred and is traveling around her body. She has been having some very uncomfortable symptoms and a group of, her family members, who live out of town, have created an “Abundant Life Team” to be of whatever help is needed for her sister’s comfort.
We debated about going to the monastery because there is no wifi, no internet, no cell phone reception. But one of her brothers and his wife had traveled to Jackson to intervene where needed. So, we decided to go visit the monks since Sheila’s super responsible brother was staying with her sister. Sheila gave him the emergency number that reaches the Guestmaster in case anything untoward happened. We got there Tuesday afternoon, and headed straight to the guest library to work on our stated goals. We shared a bit about what we’d be working on, knowing that there would be opportunities to discuss the outcomes, and get feedback from each other.
The guest rooms are very simply furnished – beds, one wooden cabinet, a table and chair, and an extra chair. Any reflection and writing is better done in the guest library where there is an electric kettle for tea and coffee, and a large table to work on. In past visits, Sheila and I have been the only occupants, but this time around there were several people who came in to use the room. After an afternoon of writing, we went to the vespers service in the chapel, followed by a simple dinner.
Yesterday morning we worked for several hours on our individual projects, and had fruitful sharing and discussion time. Lunch is served around 1 o’clock, so we headed for the refectory. As we entered the building the Guestmaster found us and gave us a message from Sheila’s brother. Her sister has been admitted to the hospital. That prompted us to agree that going home was the right thing to do. On our drive home, we talked about Sheila getting a flight today to be with her sister.
This morning, before dawn, we had a cup of coffee and headed in different directions: Sheila to the airport and me on the highway to home. I left the mountains and high desert scenery behind and began the trek through Texas and Oklahoma, to my destination Best Western.
It’s been a great 10 days of getting together with friends, soaking in the clean mountain air and Northern New Mexico landscape, and a very productive, though short, retreat at the Monastery. Sheila and Barrett also introduced me to a compelling French crime series on Prime and PBS. We watched quite a few episodes, in French, with English subtitles. Since I’ve taken a total of 6 years of French in High School and College, I was surprised at how quickly I picked up a few words at a time. That was fun. Apparently there are eight other seasons I can catch up with. Peut-etre pourrai-je parler presque couramment!