I am on a Pilgrimage to Corrymeela in Northern Ireland. We have been in Belfast for a couple of days and been taking taxis from our hostel to the various places we need to get to on this pilgrimage. Tonight was a free evening. Three of us took a taxi to The Wicker Man, a well known gift shop. I planned to buy myself a pair of earrings, and was looking around at ALL the beautiful things and suddenly realized I didn’t have my camera! My camera… my favourite way to explore and experience the sacred. I was just sick. As my companion and I tried to remember the name of the taxi company, we went out on the sidewalk, saw a fonaCAB, which was the cab company. But not just the cab company, but the same driver! He pulled over, had my camera bag in his hand, and said, “I saw it in the back and I wondered whether you were girls would still be here!”

Belfast, the city that was wracked by religious violence for years. Belfast, the city in which our walking tour was called ‘History of Terror.’ Belfast, the city where a taxi driver goes far beyond what is required to return something to a grateful tourist.

Pottery at The Wicker Man…. which I did NOT buy!