🌿 The Desert Rosary
A Living Treasure from the Tree of Serendipity
Book Passage:
To Have or To Be? by Erich Fromm
(Pages 122–124)
This morning began like any other, with a gentle invitation to open a book and receive whatever whisper was waiting. I landed on a passage that gripped my heart — a soul-mirror from Erich Fromm reflecting the difference between believing in love and being love. Between idolizing a savior and walking in his footsteps.
“Jesus was a hero of love, a hero without power, who did not use force, who did not want to rule, who did not want to have anything... He was a hero of being, of giving, of sharing.”
“The Christian hero was the martyr... the exact opposite of the pagan hero… For the pagan hero a man’s worth lay in his prowess in attaining and holding onto power…”
I sat with this — with the idea that real love is not possession or control, but surrender, sharing, and deep listening. I reflected on how easy it is to unconsciously ask Jesus to love for us… instead of stepping into his way of being:
Loving.
At all costs.
As the path, not the goal.
Later, I went on a hike — a trail I had never walked before. It was quiet, hot, and barren… the kind of day that strips you to your essence. Along the path, I spoke with a friend who is moving through pain. We prayed together for strength to remember Love… to choose it even when it's hard. The desert seemed to listen. Pink cactus flowers were blooming in defiance of the dry earth, and the wind held a kind of breathless reverence.
And then… it happened.
On a large, flat rock, a rosary lay waiting.
Covered in dried earth, worn and weathered, it looked as though it had been resting there for lifetimes. As if it had risen from the ground just for this moment — like a gift unearthed from the soul of the Earth itself.
I stood there in disbelief. Was it dehydration? A vision? A sign?
Yes. Yes to all of it.
A mala of Christ.
From the desert.
From the earth.
To the heart.
It was as if Jesus was walking with me — not in metaphor, but in presence. I didn’t need a miracle that day… but I received one. And I will carry the imprint of it forever.
