Even religion itself must take a step down from its pedestal in places like this. The defiant nature of the deep forest already suggests that Christ and Yahweh abandoned it more than a century ago. But I say they never arrived. This is no place for a missionary, this is no place for the gods and incarnates of the Middle East. There are no converts to be had here, there is no Eden to be reached, and no flock lying in wait to hear the word of god. The forest is, in a way, its own stubborn voice of God and, thus, refuses to be converted. It only converts.
Strangely, when I was physically close to bears during my wildlife management years, I felt further away from bears than I had ever felt before or since.
The woman, the mother, the female, the girl---all humanity depends upon them. Yet, we do not fully celebrate this aspect of womanhood. And many women do not celebrate it themselves.
I would be haunted by the thought that this once powerful being, all along, had been waiting for my arrival, waiting to take me into a realm of distant meaning, into a gothic world where lamentations of our ancient ones are sung.
