The Temple

I stand in the middle of the Nevada desert holding the hand of my dear friend Carsten. Thousands surround us as we wait and listen in silence while the flames at the base of the Temple begin to lick higher. The Temple. A giant wooden effigy erected in the middle of a dry desert lake bed. A temporary confessional where for the past week people of all walks paid homage to their own humanity by adorning her walls with their hearts. Small tokens of remembrance and surrender. Photos of loved ones lost, of children, friendships or lovers. Declarations, apologies, forgiveness, love, longing, sadness, rage, anger, shame, regret. All flavors of emotion are expressed within her walls and she takes it all. She listens to the stories. She hears the prayers. She catches the falling tears and braces herself against the fist. She holds it all in her sweet gentle beams and floorboards like a treasure and swells with the weight of the past.

Tonight she burns, and with her goes all the pain. All the stories. I stand in the middle of the Nevada desert holding the hand of my dear friend Carsten and tears stream down my face as I watch it all go up. Smoke fills the air with prayers and release and I feel the shift in the space. Complete reverent silence, save for a distant electronic drip. Poignant and perfect.

Carsten squeezes my hand tightly and flames reflect off the tears that roll down his gentle face as we share this moment of love for our species. For our people. The Human Family. Being alive takes great courage. It takes such immense courage to maneuver the maze of the human experience. The losses, the failures, the pain that dips us into valleys and canyons of darkness. Yet we always rise, like unwavering Phoenix lights we always rise and walk forward. We carry the weight of our unique paths and smile anyway, although our hearts are deeply fractured.

As the flames from the burning temple glow across the desert and the smoke bends in whirling twisters upward into the midnight sky, I feel the world exhale a great release. She takes it all away and up. She burns it all.

It is hauntingly beautiful. Sacredly beautiful. I stand in the middle of the Nevada desert holding the hand of my dear friend Carsten, watching a temple representing the sorrows of humanity burn and I feel one with all.