upheaval and growth in edgy desert places, an arroyo’s way
When the clouds begin to clear after a burst of heavy rainfall from the high desert monsoons, i look to the arroyos, freshly flooded, quickly dried, with new ways carved into the desert dust that had not been there before.
Once, i had told of an arroyo fooling me to follow her instead of a hiking trail. Frustrated upon reaching a wall of boulders and tree brush, i turned back to find the “real path.” Or so i thought… At the time, maybe i only believed she had fooled me because i had not yet freed myself to allow the mysterious movement of arroyos to fill me with the knowing of when to let go and let be, to follow the natural cycle of upheaval and growth.
As i continue to discern my steps in my physical and spiritual desert wandering, soul/soles to the soil, i long to trust the natural ebb and flow, mysterious movement of the arroyos. To be gracious with myself when things run dry and welcome the storm waters even when they cause upheaval for they are the source of new life.
The ferocity of flash floods rushing the arroyos forces things long lodged in the riverbed to come loose and be carried away, allowing life-giving water to carve a new way that had once been stuck, reaching roots of plants long waiting for a taste of wetness. The way of growth, revelation, transformation in edgy desert places is of monsoons and arroyos.
Discerning the way forward?
Trust an arroyo. She’ll show you the way.
Divine Dance, embed in me the trust of arroyos
Divine Dance
Whose mysterious movement traces
the ridges of arroyos
revealing the way of growth
in edgy places
embed in my being
the trust of arroyos
knowing that even in dry times
storms are collecting
necessary floodwaters
to bring forth
the birth of a new way
