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Dear Friends,

I've been reading the Desert Foundation website, and I LOVE it! It's well organized, timely, and it contains many useful readings and photos.

I've spent several weeks over a number of visits wandering and photographing in the canyon country of Utah and Arizona over the last 15 years. The peace of the area, the openness, the raw natural beauty have opened and deepened my connection with God. In recent years, the pace of my life, and a desire to deepen connections with my family have kept me away, so I especially appreciate your new endeavor. I see it as a means to re-mind myself of the desert experience I treasure. I've spent the last few years wandering the sagebrush prairies and the mountains of Wyoming while visiting family, and though it has a beauty all its own, it's not my beloved canyons.

Thanks so much for the Wisdom of the Desert page. The excerpts from Merton's work are a courageous statement in these times of conformity and rising fundamentalism on so many fronts. One thing that my time in the desert has taught is that God cannot be contained in something so frail as human expectations. Merton's message needs to be shouted to any and all that will hear!

I'm looking forward to exploring the website on many occasions. Thank you for putting together something that is so profoundly needed in our time.

If I could offer one suggestion. I would appreciate having a "Printer Friendly Version" available for the Wisdom of the Desert page and any questions for reflection that are included. I would like to print that section out and include a copy in my looseleaf notebook, and the current format is slightly bigger than a printed page.

Peace,

Sylvia Rieth
Wynantskill, NY