"Tomorrow I depart for the desert, mother.
I must lose the world in order to speak on its behalf.
I must be buried in silence so I may earn the right to have a voice.
I will return when I am able."
Twenty-six letters, lost for centuries.
They came to light only a few years ago, though their authenticity was questioned.
They fragmentarily record a man's journey through the world -
his thoughts and what he felt:
joy, anxiety, faith, doubt, exhaustion, serenity.
Most of all, the sense of wonder.
Love.
