Hi, my name is Everlasting. I know what you are thinking. What an absurd name, what a paradox, as no one can last forever except in paradise.  Well, I’m not sure who gave me the name, but I like it. It gives me the power to grow in an environment where many would not dare to visit.

I am one of those rare creations who can survive in extreme conditions. Between 4000 and 5000 meters above sea level, in a semi-arid zone, where there are no trees and few plants, is where I call home. It is called the alpine desert. I encounter a few people who pass by this area on their way to the ice-capped summit, the highest peak in Africa. These few people are the tough ones that have refused to give up and are aiming for the highest point. Like me, they must believe in the saying, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars” (Norman Vincent Peale).

Being near the summit, even in these harsh conditions makes me feel like I am aiming high. Sure, it gets lonely sometimes, but I have my few like-minded friends for encouragement and intellectual conversation. There are other survivors like the sky-blue gentians, hearty helichrysums, and asters. I greet spiders and small insects when they are on their journeys looking for food.

Mind you, being alone is good for you, not like how some people may think. I’m not anti-social or unwanted; I just choose to focus on what I think I’ve been created for. I mean, surely, God created me and placed me in this harsh environment because He knew I have it in me to endure this hardship. I may be the envy of some who fail to understand my courage and audacity: to thrive and flourish between moss and thistles.

I get inspired when I look up and glance at the stunning view of the craters of Mawenzi and the snow-crowned summit Kibo. I have accepted the drought-like conditions, where vegetation is sparse and sunlight is intense. I have accepted My Creator’s choice for me. See, the sooner you know your role in life, the better for you. Finally, I have realized that my function is to give hope to those who may lose hope in this harsh environment with its intense weather. I am the glow and beauty in this desert-garden.

I know my role. Do you know yours?

having fixed their hearts upon the Light

they set out for eternity.

And wherever the journey led, they carried

their gift of radiance

Gleams of Beauty

unfading so entranced their souls,

they heard at night in their dreams

angels singing of bliss and the music

of other worlds.

More enchanted ,

more earnestly they searched in every place,

and cherished for their homeland the dream

of a beloved of matchless excellence, hero

or saint or both.

Without let our pause

they strove on in high, passionate hope;

some perplexities of life they unravelled

as they journeyed apace, and at last obtained

the promised happiness.

Lovers of the Light

are pledged to a long journey, its end Unseen;

the very roads are proud upon which they go;

the rhythm of their going is Certainty, and their rank

slaves of the King .

Whoever disdains

that rank, disdains his own good fortune,

exchanging hope for a regret everlasting;

he shall not attain, not ever, the further rim

of all that is.

Only the lovers,

passionate lovers of the Ideal, may behold

that far horizon, eternity itself impressed

upon their faces, and their names rehearsed

in hymns of praise.

They desire life

again only to be martyred again, hearts

forever surrendered to the Light, forever

remembered in our hearts. They raise now

light-filled eyes,

in their hands are translucent beakers

held aloft, at ease, filled to the brim from

rivers of Paradise.

***