Listen To St. Basil From The Wilderness Poem by Genova Maaa my mother

„ I am living in the wilderness wherein the Lord dwelt.
Here is the oak of Mamre; here is the ladder which leads to heaven, and the encampments of angels which Jacob saw; here is the wilderness where the people purified, received the law, and then going into the land of promise beheld God.
Here is Mount Carmel where Elijah abode and pleased God… Here is the wilderness where the blessed John ate locusts and preached repentance to men.
Here ist he Mount of Olives, which Christ ascended and there prayed, teaching us how to pray. Here is the Christ, the lover of the wilderness" (William, H, George, Wilderness and Paradise in Christian Thought, P.39) .

(Graphic: Cimarron Sunset Panorama: San Juan Mountains, Colorado: Mountain...
Mountain Photography by Jack Brauer)