November 1, 2010---ARRIVAL

Gordi, Cherie, and I finally arrived after a long delay in the Atlanta airport. The plane we boarded had an oil leak in the engine. Fortunately it was discovered while the plane was still on the ground. After waiting 6 hours in the Atlanta airport, we finally boarded a large and roomy plane to Brasilia. We discovered that there were a couple dozen people who were also heading south to see John of God, including someone called Vishnu, the man who has been Ram Dass’s attendant for many years, before and after he had his stroke. Vishnu told us that he had pushed Ram Dass’s wheelchair when he came to see John of God. Ram Dass was deeply moved by his experience with John of God and afterwards was able to get out of his wheelchair and walk with a walker for the first time since his stroke. 

Happy--but exhausted

Our Pousada (guesthouse) had sent a taxi driver to meet us at the airport and drive us to Abadiania, a remote and modest little town almost two hours to the southeast, located on a bed of quartz crystals beneath the earth. The drive was beautiful with miles and miles of undeveloped green, rolling hills and red earth. The sky was full of billowy clouds ready to discharge their load. We were entering the rainy season. 

Our pousada Luz Divina

When we arrived at our Pousada, Luz Divina, the owner had overbooked and the rooms we had reserved were taken. We were tired and haggard---at least I was, not having slept a wink in the plane, not surprisingly.  In the end, we were given the best rooms in the house at the same price, each with a balcony overlooking pastures for cows and horses and green rolling hills in the distance. The price includes three meals a day. The food here is fabulous, nutritious, and very fresh....mostly local meat, fresh fruits, beans, salads and vegetables. Everywhere there are trees laden with fruit---tons of mangos, papayas, bananas, jack fruit, and avocados.  

Inside our pousada

There are chickens and roosters in the back yard making lots of friendly racket, along with giant toads making deep throated calls that almost sound like dogs barking. I bet they are celebrating the arrival of the rainy season. There are brightly colored birds flying about, including parrokeets. I’m told there are monkeys and toucans, although I haven’t seen any yet. 

View from the terrace

After settling in, we roamed around to get our bearings. Much has changed in some ways since my last visit 10 years ago....and much is the same. To accommodate the masses of people who come to see John of God for healing, many more pousadas have been built, along with the inevitable little gift shops.

October 11, 2010---GETTING READY

A few months ago, a friend invited me to accompany her to Brazil to see the healer, John of God. I had been there 10 years ago when I went down with a bag full of pictures---53 in all---of some of my patients who had severe, chronic illnesses and who had asked me to bring their photos down for a healing. People had come to the little town of Abadiania from all over the world to receive healing. I waited in the long line with my bag of pictures of my patients. When it was my turn to stand in front of John of God, the interpreter asked me why I had come. I said that I was a physician from the States and that I had come to ask for healing for the people represented by the photographs in my bulging bag. After the interpreter exchanged words with John of God, I was told that it is not time yet for those patients, but it was time for ME. I was really shocked. What does he see? I didn't feel any ailments at the time. But still I benefitted a lot from my experience of being there. I felt a deep peace that I had not experienced before. This time, I am aware that I need healing on the physical plane as well.  I am looking forward to returning there at the end of this month.

It was challenging getting everything ready on time for the big trip to South America, especially making sure that loose ends were tied up in my medical practice and that patients would not be left hanging.  Actually, I had been working on the "to-do" list for weeks so as to avoid the last minute pressures which I try to avoid.

I met up with my patients/friends/travel mates on Sunday with excitement and trepidation. The trepidation came from wondering how I would do after not traveling in almost 3 years---except to the hospital. With multiple residual ailments from the major health challenges which began almost 4 years ago after the snowboarding accident and all the subsequent spin offs from that life-changing event, I felt I was jumping into psychological terra incognita.