trudge across rocky terrain.
A family flees.
Fire coloured rocks.
Tree-topped peaks poured from above.
The salt of the earth.
A twisted thorn grows.
Roots pierce the barren rock.
From death there is life.
Solstice sunset melts
today's ancient looking clouds.
In the beginning.
We have spent the last few days of 2017 and the first of 2018 at a safari lodge next to the Kruger National Park. The scale of the landscape is breathtaking. Mountains that look like mounds of salt poured from the sky. The bird and insect calls are like drumbeats. It has been a privilege to see so many different animals moving about freely - and being close enough to hear their hooves on the ground and the sound of them grazing.
It is easy to appreciate the beauty of the earth here. I saw a book in the gift shop called "Arid Eden" which seems a fitting title. Even the sun and the clouds look ancient. It is almost hard to believe that this is the same sun we (sometimes) see back in Southgate and the same sun that St Francis of Assisi referred to as "Brother".
In his famous poem "Canticle of Brother Sun" St Francis reminds us that we are part of one family of creatures, bound together by the love of God. A useful prayer to help remember the wonder of God’s creation whether on safari in South Africa or in Southgate.
Links:
Music : Cantico del sole by William Walton (1974)
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