April 4, Twentynine Palms.
This morning Sister Priscilla was praying by the little pond behind the circus when she heard some noises and turned to find Marines in full combat gear crawling in the sand.
The little sisters have a gift for finding places and things of beauty everywhere they go to with the circus, no matter how ugly and forlorn the surroundings. When they find this place they go there to pray, or just to find peace. I remember visiting them at the Carson and Barnes Circus and on the table in their trailer there would be a little bunch of wild flowers, or just one flower sometimes, or a rock with a distinct shape one of them had found during a walk. A celebration of beauty, joy and life in the simplest form. The dashboard of their truck is lined with odd-shaped roots and wood, rocks and pebbles. A testimony to the Little Sisters' religious reverence for life and all things there, but also of their humility and integrity. It is a reflection of their faith but goes beyond that to embrace us in love. It reminds me of the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, a wonderful Buddhist monk from Vietnam I admire and look to for inspiration and guidance.
Here at the base there was a salt pond right behind the tent. In itself it was not beautiful or even natural but in a grove of trees nestled on its shore (I need to look up what kind of trees they are) one miraculously entered an oasis of nature and peace. That's where Sister Priscilla went to sit down and pray, until the Marine surprise.
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