~ by Father Ron Camarda

On a dock, sipping wine

Waves hitting the shore and dock gently,

I really love shade

Shadows are so delicious to me

Dancing even in my thoughts,

and dreams

and daydreams

I grew up on this lake

For when we were here,

I was family

and I was alone

I was free to be with my thoughts

contemplate life

or nothing

It really didn’t matter

And yet I was really secure and safe

Under my Father’s eye and glance

.

I am preparing mentally, emotionally and spiritually

To go to Iraq

in times of conflict

and in the midst of hatred and horror

“My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord

thirsting for you my God …”

And so I am not afraid

I rest in the arms of Love

All my trust is in God

All my trust

That is.

.

Rick, my brother, drove from West Point

to see me

tell me he loved me

and that he was proud of me

Yes, we are growing in the love of God

We, my Dad and his beloved wife

Rick and Steve, and his wife Di

and my cousin Jimmy…

we worshipped Jesus at Eucharist today

in the middle of the week

And Jesus blessed us with himself

His Body and Blood…cool!

Lake

Love

Family

Reality

Hope, joy and peace

Let us rejoice, O Beloved God

for you have created us

dust though we are

into the image of your love!

.

Sitting on the dock

in love with

Beloved Creator

wow

ooh

cool!

.

Sipping wine

I wrote this on July 29th, 2004 on the feast of Saint Martha. I was in Guilford, New Hampshire on a dock on Lake Winnipesaukee. I flew up to New Hampshire because it was the only way I could see my father and his wife before I started my journey with the Marines to Iraq.

Five years later on July 30, 2009, I was again on a dock on Lake Winnipesaukee. I wrote the following in the same journal:

Wow

Five years ago

I sat on the end of a dock

not knowing how I would survive the war.

And today, the war continues with no resolve, no peace.

And yet, I have discovered more about my family, my God and myself.

Although I am much more aware of my humanness

with all its positives and negatives,

there is still so much to contemplate and look forward to.

With nothing of consequence to fear in life

whether reality or imagination,

I am free to be.

I am brought to the dock again.

I am hoping to jump into the waters

and brace for the cold and dark

and follow through

to the embrace of my God, my family and myself

.

O what a journey

O what a ride

O my! O my!

Phew!!!

I am loving being at Saint Joseph’s. The 13th Chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew will continue for the next there weeks. The chapter begins like this:

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up….”

Beloved, I hope you have ears to hear and listen in order to dive into the Word of God. I pray you produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit a hundred or sixty or thirty fold!

Learn from the growth of summer and have a great week.

Love, joy, peace,

Father Ron Moses +

www.tearinthedesert.com

Father Ron Camarda is a retired Naval Chaplain and author of “Tear in the Desert,” a powerful book containing his memoirs of life and death at the Battle for Fallujah. Father Ron appears on EWTN and recently won the Silver Medal from the Military Writers Society of America.