“Saguaro and Sun Flare”
©1999-2002 by Larry Malvin
www.LMPHOTOGRAPHY.com

Praying for the Blessings of the Saguaro

Creator of all life and resiliency,
sometimes the global turmoil of every newscast
and the grind of my own daily struggles
sear and parch my soul.

Why don’t they make things better?
Perhaps I long for nurse plants
to shelter me,
rescue me, nourish me?

Most of my daily images assure me
of a quick fix—guzzle it;
move it; leave it;
it’s better over there.

But the saguaro teaches me
that often the blessings I seek
are really down deep
within my spirit.

Great prickly giants,
like Moses, arms extended,
holding your ground,
bless my thirst.

May your wise and meciful Creator
replenish the desert seasons of my life,
the arroyos of eroded dreams,
the parched seasons of discontent
May I have your saguaro’s inner strength to
Wait
Hold
Stay
 Endure.

May I learn that beneath barbed defenses
and below our hollow wounds
flows the wellspring of our deepest being,
living water
that will see us through.

I pray that this desert period of my life
will prove to be a holy time to stay still,
an opportune moment to lay low,
as I wait for a better day
for breaking camp and making tracks.

May I enter the spirituality of the desert,
and obtain the blessings of the saguaro:
Endurance
Adaptation
Hospitality.

—©1996 by William J. Fitzgerald,
author in residence,

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish
Scottsdale, Arizona

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