Simplicity in the desert

When no one listens to me any more

God still listens to me
When I can no longer talk to anyone
I can always talk to God
When there is no longer anyone to help me
He can help me
When I am plunged into complete solitude
If I pray I am never totally alone.
— Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,
‘Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain’d,
To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.
— Elder Joseph
Shaker community , Alfred, Maine, 1848