1990 Volume 5. Peter Philip “La Verna"

Easter Weekend 1990

Tyre hum background to tentative 'getting to know you' conversation.
Turn off. Then a dusty, narrow, twisting sand-stony road.
Speech-shaken and rattled.
The paved driveway. Peace?
La Verna at last!

The spartan accommodation provided a shock for the city seasons.
Swallow hard, help sort it out.
New arrivals, new introductions to my new family-to-be.
Strangers still, but not strange.

Confraternity. The start of the togetherness?
The laughter. The quiet. The sharing, the explaining,
the listening, the talking.

And always Murshid's words...

The Chapel. Cool blue light with red-purple tones of stained-glass sunlight.
Yellow and red roses, sweeter for their surprising scent.
Rain-cleared, morning-fresh air, sunshine healing,
Peaceful-pure.
The river-rich, brown-hued sparkle of reflected light.

And always Murshid's words.

Zikar-stunned senses stumbling into sudden understanding.
I softly smile at my past stupidities!
Sufi circles. Awkwardness all swept away singing into the dancing darkness of candle-lit friendship smiles.

And always Murshid's words...

My initiation. Long held convictions confirmed, my path is now started, the fikar feels right! Pray God I fulfil His purpose.

And always Murshid's words,
Leading, Guiding and Showing the way...

Confused crush, catholic service. "Christ is risen?" Continue confraternity, and then, altar yellow-decked,
the candles lit, we confirmed that
Christ in us IS risen from the limitation, into the limitless eternity of God's Love.

Dona nobis, dona nobis pacem.
Our torch in the darkness, our rock in the weariness of life.

And always Murshid's words...


Too soon the end-off AGM. After all this reality the return to illusion is an unwelcome prospect. But this Easter is my breath, always to be recalled in my gentle times, to relive the rhythm of real friends, and to rest in the Love I experienced.


And Murshid's words:
"The answer to every question is God.'