Several weeks ago, my daughter Amber, my father, sister mother, and brother in law took a trip to the Grand Canyon. It was the first time I visited that famous landmark. The experience proved to be a very spiritual on for me. The following is one article of three that I wrote based upon that experience.

God and the Grand Canyon 1

I had seen pictures, heard stories, and read articles about it. I had even considered scholarly debates about its formation. Was it caused by tenacious uniformitarian forces over millions of years or did catastrophism play a large role in its formation? Being one of the Seven Wonders of the World, I knew Intellectually, that it was magnificent—truly a wonder to behold. But, I had never personally experienced it.

On my trip there, I tried to imagine the impact that the famous chasm would have on my psyche. How would I feel? What would I think? How would it affect me intellectually, emotionally, physically?

We left the Phoenix airport later than anticipated, causing us to reach the deep ditch after nightfall. Though the darkness of night shrouded the gaping crevice, I just had to stumble to its compelling edge. Even in the darkness, I could sense its vastness. It seemed as if the sky itself had been sucked into its gaping jaws. A strange sense of awe—if not fear—began to sweep over me. There, before me in the darkness, was what I had read about, heard about, dreamed about. Though I could not yet see it clearly, I knew I was in the presence of something overwhelming. “Wow,” was all I could form with my numb lips.

I became somewhat frustrated, longing to see the Grand Canyon in all its anticipated glory; all the brilliant hues of rock painted by the sun itself. As I groped along the path winding around the canyon’s South rim, I was reminded of the ultimate mystery of God. Paul said it well; “We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!” (1 Corinthians 13:12; The Message).

At that point, I nearly wept. Wept at the reality that I really do grope in relative spiritual darkness, not fully knowing the Father. But that’s not what really made the tears well up in my eyes. I was overcome with the reality that, typically speaking, I’m easily distracted from a deep longing to see His face. Pressures of all kinds capture my attention. Ministry. Family. Home repairs. Administrivia. How easily these legitimate concerns become the epicenter of my life, creating waves of frenetic responses over the landscape of my soul.

Maybe you know what I’m talking about. If so, I hope you will be compelled to at least stand at the edge of God. For even at His edge, though still shrouded by the fog of our finite minds, you cannot help but be awed by His vastness; His depth; His glory. And maybe while there, you will be compelled to plunge into His presence…and experience His grace.

Oh Lord, “we want to touch you, we want to see your face…we want to know you more!”