“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15: 12 – 13
It’s a rainy day here in Santa Fe, but the land seems grateful for the moisture. You can smell it in the lilacs and apple blossoms on the trees. There is so much beauty here in the desert and the mountains. We have hiked every day since arriving a little more than a week ago. Today we pause and I take some time to write, while Tim works remotely.
I am writing up the wedding celebration for Lee and Adam which will happen in a couple of weeks. Lee has been a life-long friend of our daughter, Maddie. I’m looking forward to their wedding day, which will be a small celebration on the shores of Lake Superior near Gooseberry Falls. It is so healing that even in the midst of this pandemic couples keep making these crazy promises to love one another. Covid has stripped away the party and laid bare the centrality of the promises. Couples keep saying yes to life with all its uncertainty and difficulties and yes to life with all its beauty and surprises. I have loved being part of several recent Covid weddings and seeing the creativity of these couples. I have been part of a wedding outside on a farm in which one of the brides rode in on horseback. I officiated a small gathering in a church sanctuary while the groom’s family at home in India watched it live on large screen TV’s rented for the day. And one other wedding on a hillside delayed a bit while we waited out the rain.
Couples keep making their promises of love even now, and they all seal it with a kiss. I will always remember my seminary professor, Dr. James Nelson saying, “I kiss my wife each morning and each night, not because I love her, but to remind myself that I promised to love her.” Our promises of love do need ritual reminders as we make our way for often our journeys have their ups and downs.
Ups and downs. On our second day in Santa Fe, Tim and I decided to hike the Atalaya Mountain Trail. It was a gorgeous hike with incredible views, but the path was steep. Also, we didn’t really consider the difference in altitude just coming from Minnesota. The summit was at 9,100 feet. Going up went ok as long as we stopped often to catch our breath. It was the way down that was way more difficult (isn’t it always). The gravel was loose which made may balance issues due to my acoustic neuroma even trickier. I made Tim take the lead. Just a short time into the descent, I slipped on a particularly steep part and found myself heading over the edge. Tim tried to catch me but unfortunately we both tumbled over the side. Lucky for us there was a lot of brush about 8 feet down that broke our fall. Tim took the brunt of it. We lay still for a moment. We were mostly ok, scratches and bruises but remarkably nothing was broken, except Tim’s camera.
We clambered back up to the trail. “You should have let me go”, I said as I looked at the large gash on Tim’s thigh. “I couldn’t help myself “, he replied. “Thank you “ was all I could muster. After a drink of water and a kiss, we slowly made our way back down. We still had three more miles to go to get to our car.
I am so grateful for all my friends in this crazy journey of life, there have been some real ups and downs. And today I give thanks for life partners, the one’s we kiss so we remember to love them even or perhaps especially when we fall.
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