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Blessed are those who mournMonday, March 16, 2009
Psalm 42:1-7 My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" ... Why so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God ... Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
Being lost cost us a couple of daylight hours, and we arrived at the Havasupai reservation too late to check in to the campground. So we walked a little further until we found the falls, where we made a little fire and stretched out our sleeping bags. I was exhausted and went to sleep quickly, but the roar of the waterfall continued through the night. As I went to sleep, it was there. When I awoke, it was there. As the sun rose, my breath caught in my throat at the beauty of this place. We found a spot to bathe, just on the edge of the crashing water, where we could stick out our hands to feel the rush. I edged my shoulder and my leg under the falls and the water stabbed at my skin. Above us the falling water obscured the sky. And all around us the water roared. I thought, what a great place to go when I want to die from sadness. The roaring waters would absorb my wails and screams and cries when I can do nothing but implore God to give instead of take, to change death back to life, to free me from my awful grief. I am sure the Indians who have lived here for hundreds of years did just that, perhaps in both their lowest and their highest moments. Deep called to deep. The waters roared, and they cried out to God. As we rested in the morning sun, I was so happy to be with Marc, and so glad to be with God, and thankful for water that seemed to bring me life. By day you direct your love, O Lord, and at night your song is with me - a prayer to the God of my life. I say to you, O God my Rock, \"Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? But I will put my hope in You, and I will yet praise You, my Savior and my God. * https://www.westerncoloradopublishing.com/images/havasu_falls_godaddy.jpg |
Marc and I camped in the lee of Havasu Falls.* What a place that was, at the end of a fourteen mile hike into the Grand Canyon. Getting to the trailhead was nearly as difficult as the hike: sixty miles of nearly unmarked dirt roads meandering through the Arizona desert. We did get lost for awhile.