I sat down for lunch today and flipped open Streams in the Desert, not ironically to this:
I remember a summer in which I said, “It is the ocean I need,” and I went to the ocean; but it seemed to say, “It is not in me!” The ocean did not do for me what I thought it would. Then I said, “The mountains will rest me,” and I went to the mountains, and when I awoke in the morning there stood the grand mountain that I had wanted so much to see; but it said, “It is not in me!” It did not satisfy. Ah! I needed the ocean of His love, and the high mountains of His truth within. –Margaret Bottome
I wonder how many people in this world are in an active search for Truth. And I don’t mean sitting down and listening to someone tell them about it. I mean going out and suffering in the search for it.
I found peace on the ocean. There was no treasure hunt conducted. It was just raw nature. Unfiltered. Me and Her. I was not in competition with Her. I was simply part of Her.
I found rest in the mountains. I was not there to discover gold or conquer majesty. I was just there to allow Them to pass to me Their patience and story.
I suppose it all depends on the reason one goes to these places and what they are seeking. I don’t think there are any answers, per se.
In both those experiences, I was there at the beginning and end of it all. Witness to the power. I was content. Satisfied with my non-position in it. No more or less important than a single molecule of water in the ocean or snowflake on the mountaintop. And at the same time, more important than it all because I had the power to witness and appreciate it. Made the wave-particle duality make stunning sense.
It’s a different feeling being in those places alone. They impart a sagacity that is not there when surrounded by other humans.
But, one has to go there to quietly listen. One mustn’t go asking too many questions.