as the story goes, abba anthony would face the setting sun with arms outstretched in prayer an pray continuously with arms outstretched till the sun rose again. for some reason, on my way to beersheba on friday i was thinking of this story. i got the crazy idea to wake up early and hike to the stone door to welcome the sun. while contemplating this i also remembered words from basil pennington who said to get up really early, while the rest of the world is deep in rest, every once in awhile and just be with God in the quiet.
i woke at 4:15 grabbed my backpack and walked about the grounds of beersheba, it was so quiet, very peaceful. i jumped into my car, drove to the front gate of the park (the park is closed till 7am) i walked into the park with darkness. listened to the roosters crow, which was news to me, i thought they just welcomed the sun. as i walked into the darkness fear started to come over me. this is a primitive park, very little has been done to it to alter it's natural environment. i haven't seen any predator type animals there before, but it didn't stop my thoughts from going that route. it didn't help that i saw some interview with a lady who was attacked by a mountain lion just a day or two before this. to find comfort in the dark i pulled out my prayer rope and began reciting the Jesus Prayer for the next mile.
i made it to the overlook. the stone door is a 150 foot cliff that looks over the savage gulf, a series of canyons cut into the cumberland plateau. the door though is where a section of this cliff broke away from the plateau, making a 12 foot gap where settlers and native americans would move in and out of the gulf. once i arrived, i sat in the dark and just looked over the scape. i've seen it many times before, but not like this. i stood at the cliff and looked over the opposing side of the plateau. as it became brighter i would throw my arms in the air in prayer. when it became a bit brighter i pulled out my sundrop (a local citrus soda, that has been a staple of my retreat diet for years) and toasted the sunrise. i then pulled out my prayer book and entered into my morning office. not knowing what time it was i departed before the sun fully arose, but it was welcoming enough for me.
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