Thank you, Aunt Pam and Ruth

(UN)CERTAINTY

Stinging winds blow hot and wide
Across the wilderness of my heart.
Thoughts of Egypt: To return,
And temptation to rebel
Threaten sometimes
To reduce the pillar
Of cloud and fire.
Might it be a mere mirage
In the lonely desert?
But remembering the Red Sea path
I wander on
and wonder.

--Ruth Naylor
9-20-70

Published in: The Mennonite, February 15, 1972

The Desert's Secrets, by Alessandro Pronzato

In the desert the most urgent thing is---to wait. The desert does not take kindly to those who tackle it at breakneck speed, subjecting it to their plans and deadlines. It soon takes its revenge and makes them pay dearly for their presumption. Instead, the desert welcomes those who shed their sandals of speed and walk slowly in their bare feet, letting them be caressed and burnt by the sand. If you have no ambition to conquer the desert, if you do not think you are in charge, if you can calmly wait for things to be done, then the desert will not consider you an intruder and will reveal its secrets to you.

I Didn't Know - Tagore

When the lotus opened I didn't notice and went away empty-handed.
Only now and again do I suddenly sit up from my dreams
To smell a strange fragrance.
It comes on the south wind,
A vague hint that makes me ache with longing,
Like the eager breath of summer waiting to be completed.
I didn't know what was so near, or that it was mine.
This perfect sweetness blossoming in the depths of my heart.