High Desert

Altiplano Region by Claire Berry

Thirty years ago, I took a journey across the high desert of Chile and Bolivia known as the altiplano.  It was a kind of a nomad retreat, walking during the day, rest in the evening.  There were few roads, mostly the signposts in the landscape were visible only to my experienced guide and companion.  A sharp turn here or there in the wide-open space made little sense to me, but to my guide, he knew precisely the path the follow. 

The days were warm and dry with radiant colors of blue, brown, white, red, and pink.   Lagunas dotted the way which provided refreshment for the body, for the journeyers.  These resting spots created space and time for being still and observing, receiving the wonder of life in the altiplano like huge jackrabbits, flamingos, algae floating on the water, swirling clouds, rock formations weathered from millennia.  

The nights were cold and dipping into the radiance of stars like a cosmic sieve, like freckles on a young girl’s face – countless and merging.  Arriving at dusk at little villages with adobe homes that emerged out of the earth like the rock formations provided welcome and simple comfort.

I have dreamt of returning to the altiplano to live in a way that:

• Follows the rhythms of the sun and moon, an obedience to the seasons and cycles of nature
• Is constructed humbly and in harmony with the earth – availing of materials and construction design that creates a space of honor and dialogue with Creation
• Welcomes those who journey – physically and spiritually
• Provides warmth in cold times and refreshment in dry times – physically and spiritually
• Invites relationship with the community through sharing of harvests
• Nurtures connectivity with place and frees the visitor from the need or desire for connectivity that takes them away from place.
• Is safe and gentle for discovery of Love and wisdom

As I write these things, it dawns on me that in many ways this is precisely how I imagine early Christians ordered their days and spaces. It feels to me that our modern Church has lost this mission of connectivity, welcome, comfort, restoration.  I believe that Pope Francis is calling and working for the Church to return to its origins.