At the Grand Canyon there is a trail known as Bright Angel and when you see it from the rim you can trace its path across a plateau far below until it suddenly disappears at the edge of the canyon. I have it on good authority that the trail continues down to the boiling waters of the Colorado River and then ascends to the north rim of the canyon but for me it abruptly ends. I know nothing of it’s dusty descent into the ancient canyon, I’ve never heard the roar of the river or tried to ignore the bite of tired muscles as I climbed the far side. I am content to watch it from the canyon rim where the steep sides fall away so abruptly I feel as if I am flying like a condor, making circles on the unseen currents of the wind. From my vantage point I can watch as the hikers disappear, dipping over the edge one by one. They are unaware of my observation and unbothered by their progression past a horizon that belongs only to me. To them it is but a footstep in a long progression of footsteps but I will never see them again. And after watching for a bit I turn and continue along my own path secure in my faith in the path they follow. Knowing with certainty the sun warmed their backs and the ancient breeze cooled their brow and the relentless beauty of the canyon followed them on their way.
We direct the path of our spirit according to hours and seasons, life and death. In conceit we make time a river on whose bank we can sit and watch its passing. A time to be born, a time to live, a time to die. Yet there is a timelessness in you that recognizes the timelessness in life.
So if in your thoughts you must capture time in seasons let each season encompass all of the other seasons, let life surround death. Let today embrace the past with fond memory and the future with longing. For we yearn to know the secret of death but how will we find it unless we seek it in the relentless beauty of life? For life and death are one, even as the canyon and the river are one. For what is it to die but to step from the horizon and melt into the sun?
Comments
Post a Comment