Mountain Grandeur

They say these mountains are young,

9 million years old and still growing.

A turbulent, almost mythical start forced them up,

A fault line moved in Wyoming.

But the rocks whisper of an age far gone,

For 2.5 billion years they’ve watched the world.

It’s an ancient land -

Where legends have died and lives have unfurled.

The granite faces of the Cathedral look out over the valley,

To a scene that changes with each passing day.

Storms give way to sun and wildflowers bloom but momentarily,

And light dances like in a Monet.

Yet this land has a perennial air,

With each deep breath you can feel the calm.

Epochs of steadfastness and centuries of tradition

Cascade through you like a healing balm.

The Grand Tetons -

A place young and old alike,

Where constancy is loved and change embraced,

A place like no place else.

We gather in this sacred spot in Jackson,

To witness and feel what our ancestors felt –

The sheer awe and majesty

Of the Rocky Mountain belt.

And if you so choose to come to this land,

Bring a free flying innocent mind.

For you shall be touched by the old and new,

In ways only the monks have divined.