The Royal Mountain

"...and we talked then in quiet, the old man and I, about those who go off into the wilderness to pray, to be alone with the Lord, and what it must be like, those lonely nights under the stars with the howling desert wind." - The Road to Cana , Anne Rice

Feast I drank of every vine The last was like the first I came upon no wine As wonderful as thirst I gnawed at every root I ate of every plant I came upon no fruit As wonderful as want Feed the grape and bean To the vintner and monger I will lie down lean With my thirst and my hunger. -Edna St. Vincent Millay

"If I am journeying Godward, as I feel I am, it is safe with me. For I feel the warmth of the sunshine of HIs presence. My austerities, fastings and prayers are, I know, of no value, if I rely upon them for reforming me. But they have an inestimable value, if they represent, as I hope they do, the yearnings of a soul striving to lay his weary head in the lap of his Maker." -Gandhi