Why I spent a year sweeping a sidewalk in the desert

Loving your neighbors doesn’t come naturally. But continuing to try may be the point St John of the Cross, the great 16th-century mystic, priest and Carmelite friar, once said that he prayed to die in great pain, far from home, among people who hated him. I’ve thought of that a lot since moving from Los Angeles to Tucson, Arizona, in 2021. Strive always to prefer, not that which is easiest, but that which is most difficult; Not that which is most delectable, but that which is most unpleasing; Not that which gives most pleasure, but rather that which gives least; Not that which is restful, but that which is wearisome; Not that which is consolation, but rather that which is disconsolateness; Not that which is greatest, but that which is least.