I sip tea overlooking the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Orange flames of the sunset explode over the peaks as I sip coffee. The quiet solitude of the air and commune with Mother Nature is alluring and dares me to stay.
Some one hundred and three miles west of Denver, Mt. Elbert calls to me, as it feels like home. My recent stay in Leadville, Colorado offered reflective moments of peace. Aimlessly walking through its quaint streets, I stumbled upon a marker noting Leadville is the highest incorporated city in the country.
More than that, the crisp spring air and flowing blue skies haunt my dreams at night. My Living Christ, Living Buddha compass became lost. My last post of February 2013 is testament. Hard to believe I last wrote three months past.
It is sad that the anguish and turmoil of living in cities across the country profoundly etched a deep sense of loss. But working for the poor tends cultivate reflective depths. Burnout extinguished my flame to pitiful amber blue. The long hours, endless travel, lost relatives and friends enhance the internal solace tumbling across your brain like an old record endlessly repeating the same song.
Unless you continue south on Highway 24, most all things either end …. or begin …. in Leadville. Last week, for no apparent reason, I found myself driving west from Denver and for no apparent reason, ended here in Leadville. The Delaware Hotel is a place made for history buffs and Calloway’s has tea service for almost any need.
It is here I remember the writer Elizabeth O’Connor and the need always to balance the journey inward with the journey outward. Too much time alone in prayer and meditation leads to self-centeredness. Too much time in activism and service to others leads to burnout. Inward prayer peels away the façade and allows the soul to see our real gifts. The outward journey is a life of those gifts.
My time here in Leadville reminds me that life and faith are rhythmic, both an inward and outward journey. You cannot have one without the other.
Thank you Leadville for providing a sojourn.