They Named it ‘Grand’ for a Reason. By G. E. Shuman

 They Named it ‘Grand’ for a Reason.

By G. E. Shuman

 

          If you are like me, there are places and adventures in the world that you would like to see or experience, but that for some reason or other you haven’t been able to. Little things like holding down a job, paying the bills, and raising kids seem to get in the way of most of us being able to do those ‘extra’ things that we would love to do. I’ve never been hang gliding, scuba diving, or motorcycle racing, but I still intend to. (Please don’t tell my wife that I said that.)

          Words have been my thing for a long as I can remember, but I learned from something Lorna and I experienced a few weeks ago that there are some things that simply defy an accurate description. Words just don’t always cut it, at least the words that I know don’t. It dawned on me during that experience, that this is likely the reason people who do or see some super thing cannot always seem to relate that experience to the rest of us, at least not to the point that we truly understand what it was that they experienced.

          For family reasons unrelated to the point of this column, Lorna and I had the great pleasure of spending a few days with her late dad’s wonderful wife Olivia, at Olivia’s home in Arizona. While there, we took a two-day trip. We had never been to the Grand Canyon and Olivia thought that we should see that enormous natural wonder. Boy, was she ever right!

          A few days into our visit we started on our little excursion north and did visit the canyon. When we first approached the site and viewed that massive, beautiful part of God’s creation, I was pretty much dumbfounded. I hope my mouth didn’t actually hang open, but it might have. If it did, I hope no one took a picture of that.

          I do know that I stood there on that precipice, (behind a sturdy guardrail, of course. I’m not stupid.) and could not find words fit to describe what my eyes were seeing. I really could not. I simply repeated AMAZING!  AMAZING! AMAZING! over and over, with a few exclamations of AWESOME! mixed in.

          Yes, the experience was truly amazing, but, as I said, the words of man, in English or likely in any other language, have no ability to truly describe that Grand Canyon, or probably many other things that God has created on our earth to proclaim His great majesty and power.

          You know, life is short, and riddled with labor, trials, and many other things that consume the short time we are allotted here. I hope you will love your family every day that you have, do good to others whenever you can, and, if you have the time, visit some of the wonders people have not been able to accurately describe to you. That is not their fault. They may have only stood their gawking and repeating the words amazing! amazing! amazing! just as I did.

          The Grand Canyon is, truly, one of the most indescribable and amazing places I have ever visited. They named it ‘Grand’ for a reason.  Please see it if you can. Thank you Olivia, for taking us there.