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| Grace I settled down on a nice area of desert, in my down jacket and scarf to shelter me from the cool morning wind and my thoughts drift and are captured on this page. I sit between a tall, leafy green ocotillo bush and a full young Palo Verde behind me, while a small prickly pear cactus and several sage bushes stand in front of me. Most splendid of all, however, is the double-barreled, six-armed saguaro, complete with a new baby arm (probably 20 years old!). I am facing east, though the sun has not yet made her appearance over the horizon. I hear coyotes wailing in the far distance and a dog barking somewhere closer, while the city of Tucson sleeps, nestled between the mountain's majesty. The wind blows strong and sends chills through my soul. It is a fresh new day and I am on retreat to rediscover my center, that holy, sacred place within that beckons me and guides me home. I have lost touch for awhile and am here to reclaim my divinity, my peace. A bell sounds and the morning begins, as in the Buddhist tradition. Sessions begin and end with the ring of a bell. So simple, so in tune with nature, in contrast with my previously feeling out-of-tune because I allowed my external circumstances to dictate my inner feelings and take my peace away. Here I am in the desert to awaken to self. The self I know that gives and receives love and trusts God's love and acceptance. It is so easy to get caught up in the stuff of life - the physical, material reality we believe to be real. The truth will set us free - or a time spent in communion with the desert. I am reminded of 'A Course in Miracles' which aims at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is our natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is, all-encompassing can have no opposite. The course says it very simply: "Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God." by Lois Harris |
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