I hiked the Grand Canyon with my family last week. Wow! What a trip.
When I visited the Grand Canyon for the first time around twenty years ago I was amazed at what I saw. The vast expanse of open space carved into the ground is spectacular by itself. But as I peered over the South Rim to see the Colorado River flowing a mile below, my eyes about popped out of their sockets. It was so far down! Ever since, I have wanted to walk to the bottom of the Canyon and see what it felt like from below. I finally realized that goal, and the experience of walking, standing, and listening in the midst of that glorious wonder of nature will stick with me for decades.
As we descended from the South Rim and soaked in the enormous scenes of beauty that stretched out for miles before us, we competed for superlatives to describe what we saw, and failed to come up with any that hardly approximated what we felt from being there.
As I considered what lie ahead in the Canyon, I thought, “It can’t get any better than this.” But it did.
Every new corner we turned in the trail, another paradigm-blowing scene would appear that lifted one’s spirit even higher. And then another, and another. There was so much to see and so many different angles to see it and find fresh inspiration.
I began to compare the Grand Canyon to God, and of course, there is no comparison. God is infinite. The Grand Canyon is finite. But the Grand Canyon was so huge. In three days of exploring, we saw only a sliver of what the Canyon had to offer and were awed. One could spend weeks and months exploring different ravines, inner canyons, streams, varying heights and depths, and still have more to see. It seemed there was no end to the possibilities for exploration.
Yet, God is so much bigger, for God is infinite. There is no end to where one can go with God. There is no stopping point, end point, top or bottom in the universe of infinite good. The presence of God goes on and on and on and on.
And better yet, life is our opportunity to explore and experience it.
So, if you’re ever tempted to think, “I’ve done all I can. There is no more for me to see or do. I’ve come to the end of the line.” Don’t believe it! You haven’t even begun.
Any hint of decline or lack of inspiration is a prompt that it’s time to put on your mental hiking shoes and use them, to get headed down the trail of spiritual exploration and discovery and see more of what God has to offer.
Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “The infinite never began nor will it ever end.” Science and Health, p. 245. When we’re thinking, living and mentally moving about in the infinitude of Mind, there is no end to the joys of life we can experience every day. There is always a new and fresh view to take in. And it will bring healing along with it.
Go for it! The blessings await you now.
So very kind of you Evan to share those lovely pictures. Truly the beauty of the Grand Canyon is so enchanting, but surely God is infinite and nothing can be compared to His love for us. His love for us is beyond compare. We see new views of His goodness as we move about in the infinitude of Mind.
Love it!! Thanks for sharing your magnificent adventure!
This is excellent and so apropos for the Bible Lesson this week, “Probation After Death”. Thank you so much for this and providing all these illuminating truths in this beautiful analogy.
Thank you, Evan. Your words and pictures are just what I needed this morning. They reminded me of my first stay in the Colorado Rockies where I also had a real sense of the infinitude of God when I most needed it. My life hasn’t been the same since. Much love and gratitude.
Thank you for sharing the awesome experience and the equally awesome photographs.
My son was a chef at the 5 star restaurant El Tovar at the Grand Canyon. So we had the opportunity to see it many times, even in winter. But we never hiked to the bottom, nor did we ride the mules down to the bottom. But it is an amazing place of awesomeness. And God is awesome in his magnificence and power and beauty. Never got to see Phantom Ranch or ride the Colorado river. Opportunities are still open, just as there are wonderful opportunities to get to know God better and trust in his power. Thanks for the pictures reminding me of our times there.
Hello-
Gloria, I read your (longingly) seeing opportunities still open; read this in a fortune cookie, and laughed and laughed and called a friend next door, and we laughed together, “If you think you are to old to do something, go and do it.” Feel the imperative from God, opportunities to “go do it” abound.
As we cultivate our spiritual education, we can see the same thing over and over again and come upon newer insights as to God’s marvelous creation. Some thing that can’t be done by seeing materially.
I love your line about ” the presence of God goes on and on…and life is our opportunity to explore and experience it”. Life is a spiritual journey. Thanks so much for reminding me of this wonderful opportunity we all have in Life.
That was a brightening journey. It has awakened my thought to think more about about being, expanding , exploring rather than ending,stopping. I can expand my life and expectations .
My daughter and I took the train to the canyon and it was a joyous day.
And then, there is the Grand Canyon of Mexico, several times larger, which european tourists often choose to see. My daughter has hiked to the bottom,of the Grand Canyon of the US and hiked up the next day, with her lady
friends. Very challenging.
When my children were taking earth science in ninth grade, their teacher took them on a trip to the Grand Canyon. We went along as chaperons. It was truly an awesome experience to hike down into the depths of the Canyon, journeying through time. We actually went to the bottom and back in one day!
If a picture is worth a thousand words, Evan, you’ve written an encyclopedia with your post. My first visit, in the fall season, included a deer nestled outside my cabin, when I awoke early in the morning. I thought, hey, here’s heaven on earth. Love love love the remembrance of all the lively, harmonious activity surrounding that visit.
Thank you Evan for a glorious experience and sharing with us. Loved your spiritual explanation about our ageles being to enjoy Gods beauty any time in our lives. You brought wonderful memories of my visits there.