Within the last week I was at the Grand Canyon. This trip marks the 5th time I have been there, and I have to say that for me, it never gets old. I don’t know if there is anything I can say about it that hasn’t been said before, but to me it has become a spiritual experience, and I will tell you why I say that.
It’s become almost a cliche to say that pictures do not do the Grand Canyon justice. While I absolutely agree with that cliche, I can just imagine the eyerolls of people who have not been there, and I get it. There have been many experiences in my life where if you have not had something similar you just simply won’t “get it”. On the flip side, I know there are many experiences I have not had so I don’t truly “get” those either. Anyway, the first time I saw the Grand Canyon, it was many moments of awe and wonder. Now, I hope everyone has had that experience in one way or another – a feeling of being a part of something bigger or of feeling connected with others. While it can sometimes be overwhelming, for most people it is a positive emotion – one that people like to repeat if they can. For me, seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time was also spiritual in that I could not imagine how it wasn’t created by God. My first visit was when I was in college, and during that time I was doubting religion and thinking that it was mutually exclusive of the math and science I was learning in pharmacy school. This experience was a powerful way to make me think twice about that doubt.
How about you? What moments of wonder and awe have you had in your life? Are they connected to a certain time? A certain place? I wish everyone the joy that wonder and awe can bring.