So You Will Know

Sometimes, to connect, you must slow down. Engage your patience. Deliberately engage your patience. So you will know.

In September, my husband and I will visit Iona. I say the name and expect my listener to light up in wonder and appreciation. Sometimes they do, sometimes not. Iona is an island off the coast of Scotland. It’s actually an island off an island that’s off the mainland of Scotland. It’s assuredly in the Atlantic Ocean. Iona is part of the archipelago of the Inner of Hebrides. The isles of Skye and Mull are part of this archipelago, if you’ve heard of them. Iona is small. The population is 177. The central feature is the abbey. I am going to the abbey on a Celtic Christianity pilgrimage with people I love.

To prepare, my husband and I are reading So You Will Know by Ellen Gabardi. Ellen Gabardi is a poet, spiritual director, and writing guru. She visited Iona, and she wrote this book about it. She then gave me a copy of the book as a gift.

The book replicates what I imagine to be the rhythm of the island. It repeats, gently, and repeats again. Ellen (who was one of the awesome Ellens at the When We Were Murderous Time-Traveling Women Ellenpalooza) suggests the book was written to be read aloud. So that’s what my husband and I are doing. Right before bed. Reading it aloud. Two pages at a time. We are loving it.

So far, we have had gentle pages of the lambs, the abbey, the crosses, the stones. It is making me love Iona before we have arrived.

Even if you have no plans to go to Iona, if you want to go on a pilgrimage to peace, you can find it in So You Will Know.

You can read more of Ellen’s work—and buy her beautiful “To Hold It All” book of poetry—at her Substack.