Sacred Things and Conquering Fears

Day two in the same town--let's just get this out of the way--the food in Page? Not for foodies. Today we ate lunch at The Dam Grill and dinner at Canyon King Pizza—they were both okay—not bad—just okay. People don’t come to Page, Arizona, to eat. They come to explore and play. Another completely random side note—lots of Germans come to visit the American Southwest. Tim and I have several theories as to why—the German economy is stable; the allure of wide open spaces…who knows.

Now on to other things. The weather is not cooperating. Today we took a boat ride (two hours there, two hours back, an hour and a half to walk to the bridge, admire, take some pictures, then walk back) to Rainbow Bridge on Lake Powell. Tim and I both remember cruising by the lake on our 2007 road trip. It was beautiful and worth our investigation this trip. Let me remind you, we’re in Arizona…like, hotter than blazes, drier that a mouthful of saltine crackers Arizona. It never rains in Arizona. Well…it almost never rains in Arizona…as in hasn’t rained since February (no kidding) almost never rains in Arizona. Yeah, so guess what? It rained today. It rained on and off from the time we left at 7:30 a.m. until the time we got off the boat at 12:30 p.m.

The locals didn’t even hide their glee, “Gee, I know you’re on vacation and all, but we reeeeally needed this rain, so I’m pretty glad it’s raining.” We heard several other variations of that sentiment all morning. Whatever. Tim and I were certainly ready to take some spectacular photos of Lake Powell and Rainbow Bridge with a bright blue sky and the sun beaming on the red rock formations, but today, it was not meant to be. The sights were still beautiful, but not nearly as photogenic without the right conditions. Certainly, we were disappointed, but we saw some cool things.

One of those things was Rainbow Bridge. I don’t really know how to approach this delicately, so I’m going to jump right in. There is a strange relationship between The Navajo People and The National Park Service. In fact, I’m still not exactly sure how it works. To get to Rainbow Bridge, we paid Aramark, a private cooperation, to take us out to the dock where the boat landed. We walked several hundred yards of floating dock (that I believe belonged to the National Park Service). From there we walked, unescorted, on a path that led to the bridge. We were told on the boat that if we stepped off the trail, we could be fined. When we got to the end of the trail, we were greeted by a National Park Ranger.

There were also several signs that requested that we not walk around the bridge or under the bridge because it was sacred to The Navajo People. When people got too close, the Park Ranger told them they were too close and asked them to move away. There are also four other tribes who believe the bridge is sacred. The Navajo People believe that you must know the correct prayers to recite in order to be around or under the bridge. The Hopi feel that it is a part of nature so they walk around it and under it and interact with it. I am unsure of the Ute and other tribes’ beliefs. I just know they believe it is sacred.

 

So on the walk back to the boat, Tim and I had a conversation about that bridge and the word sacred. I even looked up sacred when I got back to the hotel. What does it mean, in a spiritual sense, to label something sacred? This naturally formed rock bridge that was formed by water rushing through soft sandstone became something sacred to five different Native American tribes. And because it was sacred, all others had limited access. The Park Ranger likened it to an altar in a church. I know there are religions that have made the altar off-limits to their general public. In the Old Testament, only high priests, who had been ceremonially cleansed and prepared could enter the Holy Holies. I understand approaching a sacred place with reverence, but it saddened me that that place, according the the Navajo People, was actually considered off limits to me. This was no man made tabernacle or altar. This was something God had created, there for all of us to experience and enjoy.

I'm sure there are those who would not have respected the significance of this bridge to many of the Native American people and would not have approached with respect, therefore, all people were kept away, but...

People are messy. They bring all their junk with them wherever they go. I'm just glad I serve a God who is willing to let me come to the altar with all that mess. That's all I'm going to say about that.

I had fun watching Tim today. Today was the day we went to Horseshoe Bend.

Horseshoe Bend is a place in the Colorado River that, as you saw in the picture, bends like a horseshoe, (duh). What you really can’t see in the picture is that from the top of the canyon to the bottom, is a 1,000 foot drop. The even crazier part? There is no railing. I honestly don't know how the National Park Service can get away with it. The view is stunning. Here's the catch though--to view Horseshoe Bend in it's entirety, you must get Right. Up. To. The. Edge. There really weren't too many people here who were cavalier about walking right up to the edge. Some of the younger folks tried to be cool, but there was even a little caution with them.

Back to Tim--if you know Tim or have read a little about him in previous posts, you know that he is not crazy about heights. If we're on the top of a building or edge of a canyon, he has to work his way to the edge on his time. When you're at the top of a building or at a canyon's edge, there is always a window, railing...something that establishes boundaries. He's always able to get to the boundary, but it's usually with wet palms and a little fear and trepidation. Have I mentioned that Horseshoe Bend does not have railings? Did I mention that you can walk right up to the edge with a 1,000 foot vertical drop directly ahead of you?

I am not crazy--I approached that edge with caution. My palms got a little sweaty, but it was too cool to miss. At one point I was laying on the ground with my head over the edge, taking pictures. There is no way to get the whole bend without a wide-angle lens, which we decided not to bring.

Tim admits to getting sweaty palms just thinking about what we was going to have to do. It took him a little while to get there but...

























I was proud of him. He wanted something badly enough (to see the bend with his own eyes) that he conquered his fear of heights! It was a good day.