Thomas Merton, one of my favorite theologians and writers, was a contemplative after my own heart.

Almost 40 years ago, while on an Holy Week retreat at the Holy Cross Abby near Berryville, Virginia, I wrote

DANCE OF THE CEDARS

Outside my guesthouse window
the four small cedars
stand in a row,
guarding the wall
that guards the propane tank.

This morning, just for me,
they shared their freedom
and their joy
as I watched them dance
to the song in the wind.

In that dance
was a celebration of life
just as it was promised,
full and free and without a care,
just the way it was meant to be.