Red Sea Reverie

Red Sea outside our hotel in Ain Sokhna

I thought it was a tale of twenty years ago when they said

dolphins swim in the Red Sea waters along the coast at Ain Sokhna,

but what did I know?

Much longer ago, young Saint Antony (251-356 AD) gave the poor his hefty inheritance

And headed for the hills west of the Red Sea to live with God alone,

But what did he know?

And even longer ago, when Moses saw that bush burning strangely in the desert

And heard God calling him to lead his people out of Pharoah’s wilderness of sin and slavery,

What did he know?

So little we know.

Antony, through duals with demons and desire for God, became the father of

many who left home and sought in the Egyptian desert the wisdom of

a life lived on bread and prayer inside a solitary cave.

Yet, I wonder what he knew of dolphins and roses,

Of children’s laughter, of songs and sunsets?

Moses, that fugitive shepherd, was shocked into reluctant obedience

to the One God who gave him courage to face down a powerful king,

and a sea that any sensible person would never think could part.

I wonder if he spotted any dolphins diving for cover

As they swam through a sudden wall of waves in that sea?

And I, sitting on my balcony by the Red Sea in the morning, marveled to see

the graceful arcs of a half dozen dolphins swimming along the

aquamarine coast toward a further point where they turned

and came back for another showing in the deep blue waters of the afternoon

beside a lightly pebbled beach with shells like alabaster.

So little we know of God’s ways.

So little we know of God’s world.

At St. Anthony's monastery with Laurice Louis and Father David.

 This is the site of the first monastery in Egypt, begun in the third century. Antony first lived in a burial vault in the mountains for 20 years. Eventually, he travelled to the inner desert (this site) where he found a spring of water and lived in a cave near the top of the mountain. While there, a few disciples gathered around him, and this was the start of Christian monasticism. Many came to him in his later years for prayer, healing, and inspiration. He lived to the age of 105. We made our way to the first chapel through the arched doorway seen in back.

The first formal monastic chapel was constructed in this building in the fourth century.  There is a new chapel on the grounds for the 90 monks who live there now.

This monastery is situated by the mountains, less than an hour off the road by the coast of the Red Sea.

Inside the chapel are various icons. This shows Christ at the top, and Mary holding Jesus at the bottom. This one is the central icon of the small chapel.

To the right is the "keep" where monks kept themselves safe from marauding Bedouins in the sixth century.  They entered by way of the wooden bridge and then pulled up the bridge so that no one else could enter.