I. The Mountain That Was Loved

Sorath stands at the edge of the loving country, and the mountain remembers the first time it was loved. This is stated by the love-keepers with the quiet certainty of people who have tended the remembering all their lives. They say Sorath was not always loved. They say the mountain was there, and the mountain was seen, and the mountain was climbed, but the mountain was not loved, and the not-being-loved was the mountain's whole loneliness. They say the mountain was loved, once, by the first person, and the loving was the mountain's whole heart.

The love-keepers explain it with the patience of people who have held the remembering for generations. They say a mountain that is not loved is a mountain that is alone. They say the loving is the mountain's whole gift, and the gift is the person's. They say the first person loved the mountain, and the loving was the mountain's whole heart, and the heart is the mountain's whole memory.

The love-keepers say the mountain remembers the loving. They are careful about this, because it is the part that matters most. They say the mountain remembers the first person's love, and the first person's whole loving. They say the remembering is the mountain's whole heart, and the heart is the mountain's whole life.

II. The Shape of the Remembering

The remembering of Sorath is not a memory, and the love-keepers will tell you this with the care of people who have tended the remembering all their lives. They say the remembering is a warmth. They say the first loving is not in the past. They say the first loving is in the mountain, and the being-in-the-mountain is the remembering, and the remembering is the mountain's whole warmth.

The love-keepers say you can feel the remembering, if you stand on the slopes at dawn. They say the remembering comes out of the stone at dawn, when the first light touches the stone. They say the remembering rises from the stone as a warmth, and the rising is the mountain speaking, and the speaking is the first loving. They say the rising is the mountain's whole voice, and the voice is the heart.

The love-keepers say the mountain remembers the first loving every dawn. They say the dawn is the mountain's whole remembering, and the remembering is the mountain's whole gratitude. They say the mountain is grateful for the loving, because the loving was the mountain's whole heart, and the gratitude is the mountain's whole life.

III. The Love-Keepers

The love-keepers tend the remembering, and their office is the most tender in the loving country. They do not make the loving. They do not change the remembering. They do not tend the first person, because the first person is gone. The love-keepers witness the remembering. They stand on the slopes of Sorath, and they feel the remembering come out at dawn, and the feeling is the office.

The love-keepers say the remembering must be witnessed. They say a remembering that is not witnessed is a remembering that is alone, and the remembering is not for the alone. The remembering is for the witnessing, and the witnessing is the love-keepers' work, and the work is the office. They say the love-keepers do not help the mountain remember. The love-keepers keep the mountain company while it remembers, and the company is the love-keepers' whole gift to the mountain.

The love-keepers keep one practice, and they do it every dawn, and the practice is the whole of their work. They climb to the slopes of Sorath, and they stand where the remembering comes out, and they feel the rising. They say the feeling is the witnessing, and the witnessing is the office. They say the rising is the mountain's whole gift to the love-keepers, and the gift is the heart.

IV. The Person Who Loved the Mountain Last

The archive keeps one story that the love-keepers speak of rarely, and with a kind of care they reserve for nothing else. A person came to Sorath, and the person was the last person who would ever love the mountain. The person did not know this, because the lastness was not known, but the person loved the mountain, and the loving was the person's whole gift.

The love-keepers watched the person. They did not approach. They did not speak. They watched the person love the mountain, and the loving was the person's whole gift, and the love-keepers did not understand, because the loving was an ordinary loving.

The love-keepers came to understand, over the years, that the loving was not ordinary. They came to understand that the loving was the last loving, and the lastness was the loving's whole weight. They came to understand that the mountain would remember the last loving, and the remembering would be the mountain's whole ending.

The love-keepers say the mountain remembers the first loving and the last loving. They say the first loving is the mountain's whole heart, and the last loving is the mountain's whole ending. They say the mountain is held between the first loving and the last loving, and the holding is the mountain's whole life. They say the love-keepers tend the remembering, and the tending is the mountain's whole grace.

V. The Grace of the Loving

The people of the loving country have a belief about Sorath, and they offer it the way you offer a thing you have loved. They believe the mountain is not a thing. They believe the mountain is a being-loved. They believe the mountain exists because the mountain is loved, and the being-loved is the mountain's whole life. They believe the loving is the mountain's whole gift, and the gift is the person's.

They believe this is why the mountain remembers the first loving. They believe the first loving is the mountain's whole heart, and the heart is the mountain's whole gratitude. They believe the mountain is grateful for the loving, because the loving was the mountain's whole heart, and the gratitude is the mountain's whole life.

The love-keepers climb to the slopes of Sorath. They stand where the remembering comes out. They feel the rising. The rising is witnessed, and the witnessing is the office. The remembering is held in the stone, and the holding is forever, and the first loving is the mountain's whole heart. The love-keepers witness the remembering, and the witnessing goes on, and the mountain remembers, and the remembering is enough.